


I was a billion little pieces until you pulled me into focus

by IrishBella



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Curse, F/F, Swan-Mills Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-21 06:04:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11937891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrishBella/pseuds/IrishBella
Summary: AU where Regina tries to cast the curse and it doesn't work. This is her journey of finding love, family, and forgiveness. With a little angst and action in between. Combination of OUAT and some Pirates of the Caribbean characters.





	1. The Curse

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off of the wonderful artwork from @artbyjoana  
> She's amazing! LINK HERE
> 
> Thank you so much for creating such beautiful artwork and allowing me to create a story around it, you are wonderful
> 
> I want to give a huge shoutout to my awesome cheerleader, GabeL, who helped me through every road block and plot hole while writing for Supernova. You're the best!! 
> 
> And major thanks to the mods who've worked so hard to make sure everything goes smoothly. Thank you so much for creating this event and allowing me to be a part of it!  
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: There is implied abuse and some slightly graphic fight scenes. This has not been edited, I own none of these characters, and all mistakes are my own.  
> Also: Hook plays a MINOR roll in this story and is nothing by a sleaze-bag.

Regina sits alone in her dark and dreary castle. “I can’t believe it didn’t work!” she screams as she throws her glass at the wall, shattering into a billion little pieces. “It should have worked.” She paces her quarters, trying to figure out what went wrong. _The course should have worked. I gave it the heart of the thing I love most._ She feels a tear slide down her cheek as she thinks about taking her father’s heart. _He wanted to see me happy. This curse would have made me happy. Why didn’t it work?!_ She lets out a scream of frustration and throws a fireball, the biggest she’s ever created, against the wall of her castle. The fire spreads out from the floor to the ceiling before burning out, like it was never there at all.

She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she turns from the fire, she’s disheveled. Oh, if only Mother could see her now. She straightens her back, re-tucks a strand a hair that fell out of place, and takes a deep breath before donning her mask of indifference and transporting herself to Rumple’s cell.

“Ah-ha-ha,” Rumple singsongs before Regina’s magic completely dissipates. She sighs and rolls her eyes, _this won’t end well._

She makes sure her mask is fit to perfection, knowing Rumple will do anything to get under her skin.

“I see your curse failed...again,” he adds with a gleeful giggle.

“You’ve gone mad, Rumple. But do pull yourself together long enough to tell me what went wrong this time.”

Rumple shakes his finger, “Ah-ah-ah, those are against the rules, Your Majesty. You don’t have anything to offer me, so why would I give _anything_ to you?”

Regina sighs, “You want this curse to succeed as much as, no, _more_ than I do. So, tell me what went wrong so I can fix it.”

Rumple shakes his head and giggles, “How were you ever my student? My prodige. You certainly are quite dense. It’s simple really, you needed hair from those with the darkest souls and you failed. Now your father has died in vain. How does that feel, Your Majesty? You’re lonelier than I am. At least I have the voices in my head to keep my company.” And with another giggle, he turns away, done with this conversation.

“I had the hairs,” she growls out. “Do not turn away from me, Old Man. Give me the truth about this curse so I can fix this and cast the damned curse.”

“There is no _fixing_ this,” Rumple says, completely oblivious to Regina’s anger. “You had hairs from dark souls, yes. But not the darkest of souls. You missed two of the darkest souls around. Myself, of course, and dear old Maleficent. And now you’ve used up the thing you loved most. How tragic. I suppose I only have myself to blame. I should have taken your sister up on her offer to train her instead of you. She had so much more potential.”

Regina’s caught off-guard by this sudden change in conversation, “My sister? You truly _have_ gone mad. I am an only child, Rumple.”

Another giggle makes Regina clench her fists. Her patience is wearing thin. “Whatever you say, Your Majesty. Don’t leave the Enchanted Forest or your tiny little world will fall apart.”

Regina rolls her eyes, “You’re mad. And you’ll go mad down here now that you don’t have a way out. The curse didn’t work, Rumple. That hurts you more than it hurts me. I, at least, have my freedom.” She smirks, Rumple gave her the curse and wanted her to cast it. For some reason, he wants to send everyone to the land without magic. And now he’s locked away without his magic.

There’s another giggle, making Regina want to throw a fireball at the imp. “Do you? I do believe the precious Charming’s would disagree.” Hearing their name makes Regina want to throw that fireball even more.”Oh,” Rumple adds with a giggle, “I see I’ve touched a nerve. Upset to see Snow get her happy ending no matter how hard you try? Well, I suppose I want to be the one to tell you that while you were busy failing to enact the curse, Snow gave birth to her precious little princess.” Regina’s hand erupts into flames, causing Rumple to fall into manic laughter. “Ah yes, Snow’s family and love grows and grows, while you shrivel away, alone in your castle.”

 _This was a mistake_ Regina thinks as she turns away. _He’s lost it. I’ll have to figure it out on my own._

“Oh, Your Majesty,” Rumple calls. Regina pauses and slowly turns around, not sure she wants to hear what he has to say. “Be sure to send congratulations to the happy family. It’d be improper for a fellow royal not to-oh, I forgot you have lost your  royal status. Tah-tah, _Regina._ ”

Regina growls and flicks her wrist, taking her back to her castle.


	2. The Escape

She spends an unknown amount of time throwing fireballs and screaming. She stands in what used to be the castle gardens, watching the ruins burn. Her throat is hoarse and she feels the wind blow across her tear stained cheeks. She no longer has to worry about propriety.  What does it matter if she acts ‘queenly’ now? She’s alone in her castle, with only the guards she controls. They know better than to risk their lives by seeking her out right now. She crumbles to the ground as more tears fall. All she ever wanted was a simple life, happiness, love. Was that too much to ask for? Instead she was locked away within the castle, stuck living a life in the court, with a man who loved her less than she loved him-which was saying a lot, and a stepdaughter whose age was closer to having been Regina’s sister instead of her daughter.

“I never wanted this,” she cries out as she wraps her arms around herself and allows herself to grieve. She hasn’t cried since the day she watched Daniel die. _It would be unkempt of a queen to cry_ she can practically hear her mother say. Too much has happened since then. She married a man older than her father, spent _years_ trying to please him-never succeeding, killed him, took on dark magic, chased Snow for revenge for years, killed her father-the only person who tried to love her-to enact this revenge, and what does she have to show for it? Nothing. She sits here, alone, instead of in this new world with her curse where no one is happy. Now it seems everyone is happy _except_ her. She just wants to be happy, _is that too much to ask?_

Finally, she regains some of the strength she used while throwing all of those fireballs, and is able to stand-albeit on shaky legs-and make her way back to her chambers. “I cannot stay here,” she says to no one in particular. She moves to the wardrobe in the room and starts to pull out her clothes.

“Your Majesty?” calls the mirror.

Regina rolls her eyes as she continues to pull out her clothing.

“Your Majesty, I must ask, where are you going?”

“You mustn’t ask anything, Genie. I am leaving. That is all.” She starts looking at what she has pulled out, what should she take with her? Where is she going? She doesn’t have any answers but she knows she can’t stay here a minute longer.

The genie is silent but she can feel him watching her. She grinds her teeth but continues to pack. Corsets, pants, coats, boots, a pair of ‘sensible’ shoes are left out because she’ll have to walk a bit, and a few of her skirt bottoms _just in case_. She won’t need the dramatic flair she’s used to but if she needs, she can always use a little bit of magic. Unless of course, she makes it to a realm without magic. She’ll cross that bridge when she gets to it, she supposes.

She packs everything into her bag, along with bands for her hair, and grabs a handheld mirror. With a smirk she moves her genie from the big mirror on her wall to the compact. He starts to yell and complain but she quickly shuts the compact and tosses it into her bag. She closes her bag and with a sweep of her hands, she’s dressed like a commoner. Some worn pants, loose top that’s unbuttoned just enough to border indecent-she knows people can see her corset underneath and hopes it will distract them from her face, and then she throws a cloak on to hide her hair-and most of her face-when it’s worn the right way.

She grabs her bag and uses her magic to transport herself outside of the main tavern next to the ports just outside her kingdom. After taking a deep breath, she steps into the tavern and is met with the loud noise inside. She does her best to blend in, ordering an ale like everyone else and moves to the back, hoping to stay out of everyone’s way. She’s not that lucky.

“Well, aren’t you a pretty thing,” a slimy-looking man slurs as he stumbles in front of her.

She stays looking at her drink on the table, maybe not making eye contact will tell him to move along.

He scoffs, “Playing hard to get won’t get you anything more, Wench.” He falls onto the bench across from her and reaches out to grab onto her wrist.

She quickly turns his hand around and hears a satisfying crunch, “Move. Along.”

The breaking of his bones seems to sober him up and he quickly moves away from her table, clutching his hand to his chest.

She hears a slow clap and glances to the pillar near her table, “Very impressive, Your Majesty.”

Regina clicks her teeth and her jaws clamp together, no one should know her face here.

“I can see your confusion,” this person says as they swagger over to her table and plops down where the drunk was just sitting. “You’re confused as to how I know who you are.” They lean across the table, closer to Regina and conspiratorially whispers, “Your disguise wouldn’t be very good if any of these blokes were sober. Unlucky for you, I am.”

Regina rolls her eyes, “In case you already forgot what I just did to that man, let me remind you.” She holds out her hand playfully.

The shock comes when this person throws a knife down right next to Regina’s hand, driving it into the oak table.

Regina’s eyes grow wide and she looks up to see a smirk on the face of her opponent.

“I play to win, Your Majesty.” They pull the knife out of the table and start twirl it between their hands, “Now, I have a question of my own, why is someone like you down here amongst the drunks?”

She doesn’t know how to respond. She certainly can’t answer truthfully, the truth always seems to lead to her unhappiness. “I needed a change,” she says simply. It’s not a _total_ truth anyway.

The person across from her smirks, “Well, then you’ve come to the right place. How would you like to become a pirate?”

“A pirate?” Regina repeats. Honestly, she hadn’t thought about _how_ she would board a ship, just that she needed to get on one that has a way to travel to other realms.

“Yes, board my ship with me and my crew and we’ll make a proper pirate out of you in no time.”

“A proper pirate,” Regina says with a chuckle. She pauses when she sees the person across from her ready to challenge the idea that there were things such as proper pirates. “I suppose it could be just the change I’m looking for.”

They share a smile and the person across from her reaches across the table to shake hands. When Regina accepts, she hears, “The name’s Angelica, Your Majesty.”

Regina cringes, “Regina. Please.”

Angelica laughs, “Regina it is. However, the crew comes up with nicknames quick. Better think of your own if you don’t want them to do it for you.”

“What’s yours?” Regina asks innocently.

“Captain,” Angelica answers with a smirk.

Regina’s eyes blow wide and she chuckles, “Of course. Well, for now Regina will do.” When all Angelica does is laugh, Regina merely starts a flame in her palm, “It will do,” she says with a grin that would put the worst pirate to shame.

“Well, alright Regina. Time to board the ship and get you set up before the crew comes aboard again.”

They get up and leave the tavern. After dropping a tip with the bar wench, Regina follows Angelica to the ship.

“This is it,” Angelica says as she comes to a stop in front of a massive vessel, “the Black Pearl.”

Regina is given a tour of the ship before the rest of the crew boards. She’s shown where the crew sleeps, where they eat, where they keep any captives, and then she’s brought back to the deck where Angelica gives her a quick run-down of how the ship is run. The crew starts to roll in and soon the ship is ready to depart.

“Where to Captain?” one of the crew members asks as they ready the ship.

Angelica stands at the helm and allows a smirk to overtake her face, “Neverland.”

The crew grows quiet. Someone eventually asks, “Neverland?” in a combination of fear and confusion.

Angelica’s smirk grows into a vibrant smile. “Neverland” she repeats. “There’s no better place to teach our newest recruit how to be a proper pirate.”

Regina looks around and notices all eyes on her. She straightens her back and raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, daring anyone to say something. She internally smirks and looks back at Angelica, waiting for further instructions.

Angelica nods in Regina’s direction, acknowledging her stature before looking back at her crew. “Cast off!” she calls and the crew quickly runs to follow the captain’s orders.

They leave the port and soon they’re out in the middle of the ocean with nothing but sea surrounding them. Regina strains her eyes to see what’s on the horizon, but she can see nothing but the water. She looks up to the helm to see Angelica. She can see why she’s the captain, she’s got a commanding presence. She has the crew following her every command and Regina is in awe by it. She, of course, also has a commanding presence, but her subjects run in fear from her, whereas Angelica’s crew hang on her every word. Regina wants to know how she does it.

The wind starts to pick up and Regina hears Angelica yell over the gushing wind, “COME AROUND!” She quickly racks her brain trying to remember what that means. _Turn into the wind_ she remembers from earlier. She watches at the ship turns in the water and then they’re going against the wind.

Angelica had tossed something into the water and suddenly there’s a vortex in front of them. _That’s a lot of magic_ Regina thinks as she watches the vortex grow and develop a greenish hue. She quickly grabs onto a piece of the ship and hopes she doesn’t fall overboard. The ship heads right into the portal and they’re falling until they land in the water with a splash.

Regina looks around. Have they really gone to another realm? All she sees is water. Quickly though, she realizes she’s not in the Enchanted Forest anymore. Her magic feels different here. She still has it, but something’s different about this world.

She’s never been to Neverland before. Jefferson never talked about it, and she had had enough travel with Wonderland; she never wanted to go anywhere else.

Before she can study her surroundings more Angelica yells, “Alright men, time to teach this Scallywag how to pirate!”


	3. The Fight

A round of “Aye, aye!” is heard and Regina feels all eyes turn on her. She takes a step back and feels her back press into the side of the ship. _These men are vermin_ she thinks as they approach her with sadistic smiles. No one gets to look at her like that, she’s the one that hands out sadistic smiles. She allows the Evil Queen to take over and releases a most-vile smile as her hand lights aflame.

The pirates pause and look to their captain in shock. “Sorcery” is whispered from the back.

“Tsk tsk,” Angelica says as she steps forward. “This won’t do. Now, you won’t always have your magic to fall back on-especially with Pan around-so we will have to teach you to use a sword.”

Regina rolls her eyes and where there was just fire in her palm, now rests a sword. “I am a queen with a full guard and a lot of free time. Of course I know how to wield a sword.”

Angelica raises an eyebrow and says, “We’ll see about that.” She steps back and allows one of her crew to step up, starting the rounds.

Eventually, Regina has fought each of the crew and only has a few minor scratches. _Damn pirates_ she grumbles as she leans against the ship and wipes her brow. All of the crew fought together, working together to make sure their swordsmanship was up to par, their stances perfect, using as little energy as possible to beat their opponent.

Angelica calls for the end of their practice, which Regina presumes is common practice on this ship, and they all head to the galley to eat. “Regina,” Angelica says as the men head down the steps. Regina stays back and heads toward Angelica when the rest of the crew are out of the way. “Come,” she calls as she turns toward the back of the deck, “You may think you’re ready to become a pirate, but you’re certainly not ready to eat like one. You can eat with me for now. We need to chat anyway.”

Regina tries not to let her surprise show. She relies on her facials learned in the court. She knows her facade does not crack and she walks with Angelica to the captain’s quarters. They sit across from one another and begin to eat the food laid in front of them. Eventually, Regina gets tired of feeling Angelica’s eyes on her, so she makes eye contact and waits to hear what Angelica has to say. When she says nothing, Regina sighs and asks, “What?”

Angelica smiles and says, “I’m glad the queenly act has its limits.” She chuckles at herself before getting serious. “You’re very good with a sword. Consider me surprised, I thought we’d spend the better half of our time in Neverland hiding from Pan until you were ready.”

“Ready for what?” Regina asks when Angelica gives no more information.

“Ready to fight Pan,” she states simply.

 _It’s like pulling teeth_ Regina thinks with a sigh. “Who is this Pan and why do you want to fight him?”

“Pan is the darkest being I’ve ever met.”

Regina doesn’t hide her eyeroll. “I do believe you’re forgetting, I am the Evil Queen.” She straightens her spine with pride as she says this. Even though she knows she didn’t choose that title herself, she became that person the more she fought against Snow.

Angelica scoffs, “Pan makes what you and Rumple did in the Enchanted Forest look like child’s play. This island is Pan. Pan is this island,” she says solemnly. “He cut out his shadow so it can travel to other realms, kidnapping young boys to bring to the island so he can suck the life from them and maintain his power. He calls them his Lost Boys. They remain here forever, never aging. This allows Pan to stay young and keep the island alive.”

Regina pauses, trying to remember if any of her mother’s books talked about this powerful being. Her mother knew everything about the most powerful beings in all the realms.

Angelica doesn’t seem to notice because she’s too lost in thought.

“And why do you want to fight this powerful being?”

She knows she startled Angelica, but she quickly hides it and says, “He has something I require.”

When she receives no more information, Regina sighs, “What do you need?”

“A compass.”

 _A compass?_ “What?” Regina asks, forgetting all of her queenly etiquette lessons once again.

“Not just any compass. This compass allows the owner to travel anywhere and retrieve any treasure their heart desires.”

 _Pirates and their treasure_ Regina thinks. Then she remembers, she’s now one of them. She no longer has her royal treasury, hasn’t since Snow and her farmer-in-prince’s-clothing ousted her. Having nice things isn’t so bad, she could get used to having treasure again. “Why do you need my help?” Regina asks.

Angelica smiles, but it shows no happiness. “Pan is a powerful being. He has the strongest magic I’ve ever seen. We need a diversion while I obtain the compass. My men can handle the Lost Boys, but I cannot fight Pan without magic.”

Regina frowns, “So, you only allowed me aboard your ship for my magic?” She’s been used for her magic before. First, her mother kept it hidden from her, then Rumple used her to cast a curse that didn’t even work, and now Angelica just wants her to steal from some magical being.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s a part of it. Knowing you have magic was something that I thought about but it’s not the only reason you’re here. I know the look of someone who needs to get away from the life they’re living. You had that look in the tavern. And honestly, I’m sick of being the only woman on this ship. I need someone else strong-minded to challenge me.” She watched Regina’s eyebrow lift and says, “Don’t take it too far, because I’ll knock you on your ass, Scallywag.”

“What is this Scallywag?” Regina asks as her eyebrows furrow in confusion.

Angelica smiles, “It’s what the newest pirate is called by their superiors sometimes. We can’t very well call you Regina and you’ve already expressed your distaste for Your Majesty. We’ll have to come up with something.” She pauses in thought before she rests her elbows on the table and stares intently at Regina. “We cannot use your first name; it’s safer for everyone if there’s a sense of anonymity, for my crew as well as for your protection. We wouldn’t want anyone to find out your true identity when we’re not prepared. Usually, my men go by a nickname or their previous trade before they became pirates. Neither of those will work for you since you neither have a last name or a previous trade we can use. Queen just doesn’t quite cut it and there’s that damn royal tradition of only having first names. I suppose we could demote you to Princess if you’d like,” she ends with a wicked grin.

Regina’s nose crinkles, “I’d prefer something else.” She stares at the painting on the wall as she thinks about what they could call her. “My mother was the miller’s daughter before she married my father,” she offers. She can’t seem to think of anything else.

“Miller?” Angelica says, “No, that doesn’t sound right. Hmmmm,” she pauses before she snaps her fingers, “Mills. It’s perfect. No one but the crew will know your true identity. Hell, I assume only the most sober made the connection after your little magic show earlier.” She laughs as Regina looks down at her plate with a blush on her cheeks. “Alright, _Mills_ , I’d like you to try out your magic again since I know it’s different here in Neverland than it is in other realms.”

“How do you know that?” Regina asks before she can stop herself. She has to remember that she’s not a queen here, she is not an equal to Angelica. _You do not question someone in charge_. Her mother had taught her that many times.

Angelica doesn’t seem to mind. She leans back against her chair and steeples her hands in front of her, elbows resting on the armrests of her chair. “This is not the first time I’ve gone up against Pan. This is also not the first time I’ve brought someone with magic to fight Pan. However, my last mistake was bringing someone who was a novice in magic. They overestimated their ability and it cost me three men. I won’t make that mistake again.”

Regina just nods solemnly and reaches for her magic. She feels the familiar pull and allows the goblet of wine to lift from the table and float over to refill her glass. She places the goblet back in it’s place and daintily takes a sip of her now full glass.

Angelica nods and says, “Alright, so you have control, but how long can you maintain a fight with your magic?”

Regina scoffs, “I used to fight the _Dark One_ before breakfast, and then spend my day hunting Snow White and pillaging villages. I think I can manage a fight with this Pan.”

“That was awhile ago,” Angelica says, “I want to make sure you haven’t gone soft since your banishment.”

The offense is clear on Regina’s face, causing Angelica to laugh until she notices her chair subtly lifting from the ground, “Tread lightly, Mills,” she says carefully.

Regina smiles and sets the chair down just as gently as she lifted it up. Instead, she lifts the empty chairs around the table and has them dance in a circle around them as she carefully cuts a piece of meat and takes a bite.

“Alright, that’s enough magic for tonight. I don’t want you to waste any before we meet Pan.”

Regina nods and sets the chairs back down in their previous places. “When will that be?” she asks.

“Sooner than I planned since you already know how to wield a sword. I figure we’ll head for the island at first light.”

They sit quietly, continuing to eat as they both think of war plans. Regina realizes it will be a lot harder to stop thinking like a queen than she imagined.

Their quiet dinner is cut short by a shrill scream. It fills the quiet night air and both Regina and Angelica are on their feet in an instant.

Regina follows Angelica onto the quarterdeck and sees one of their crew members hanging upside down from the main mast. When Regina’s eyes adjust to the darkness she realizes the pirate isn’t hanging from the mast but there’s something holding him there. _A shadow?_ She wonders what is going on as she hears Angelica shout orders.

She lights a fireball in her hand and walks to the front of the quarterdeck, tuning out Angelica’s orders for the men. She regrets this decision as the shadow lets go of the man and races towards her. She releases the fireball at the shadow while reaching out with her other hand to catch the falling pirate and place them safely on the deck.

There’s a lot of confusion from the crew as the shadow starts dodging Regina’s fireballs. Now that she has use of both hands, she’s releasing as many fireballs as she can, hoping to hit that damn _thing_.

The only thing that gives her pause is an eerie laugh. She looks up, a fireball still in her hand to see a boy standing on the mizzen. She turns to face the boy and studies him.

“How did you find us, Pan?” Angelica calls from the main deck, after checking over her falling pirate and making sure all her men were armed.

He giggles again, _why does his giggle sound so familiar?_ “I always know when magic is used in Neverland. I felt your boat land and when I felt some strong magic user. I would assume that would be you,” he says as he drops from the mast to stand in front of Regina.

Regina says nothing but allows her fireball to grow. She notices the shadow moving closer to her, _so it is drawn to the fire_ she thinks as she focuses on the boy in front of her. _This is Pan? He’s nothing but a boy. Why is Angelica so frightened by him?_ She doesn’t have a chance to question further because she’s suddenly flying backwards. She throws her hands out and uses her magic to stop her movement before gracefully landing on her feet, now on the main deck and looks up at Pan.

“OOOOOH!” He coos, “this one’s much better than the last one, Captain. I’m going to enjoy this.” He jumps in the air and lands on the main mast.

 _What the hell, he can fly?_ Regina watches him and tries to find an opening, knowing she can’t throw a fireball and hit the sail. _Wind_ she thinks as she lets her magic flow out of her, creating a tiny cyclone. This only makes Pan giggle louder and jump into the air. He allows the spinning air to fly him around in circles until he pops out of the cyclone and lands outside Regina’s magic. Before she has a chance to redirect her magic, her feet are knocked from under her. She doesn’t have a chance to save herself and she lands with a thud against the deck.

Her curls bounce and surround her face and she pushes her hands against the deck, trying to get your bearings. “It appears I spoke too soon, Captain. She’s not much better than the others. You’ll have to try better next time. I suppose I’ll let my Lost Boys take care of the rest of you,” he sighs out and leaps into the air.

Regina can’t stand the fact that he bested her, and so early on. She hasn’t even started feeling the fatigue that comes with using magic. She reaches up with one hand and lets her magic wrap around one of Pan’s legs and throws him over the side of the boat. She hears a splash and can’t help the pride she feels well up inside. She stands up and brushes her hair out of her face and looks at the crew around her.

They’re all standing silent, watching her. She gives a small smile and turns to survey the rest of the ship. It seems that shadow-thing has disappeared for the time being and the crew starts to cheer.

Angelica comes up and claps her on the back, “Well done, Mills. You knocked Pan down in your first fight. I haven’t ever seen that happen, and I’ve spent my share of time on this bloody island.”

There’s a round of cheering where the crew yells “Mills” and Regina realizes she’s never had anyone cheer for her before. It’s a feeling she thinks she can get used to.

Unfortunately, she doesn’t get a chance to celebrate because Pan comes flying out of the water, and boy does he look mad. _Good,_ she thinks with a smirk. “Miss me?” she asks as the rest of the crew cowers behind her.

“Oh, you’re a feisty one, I’ll give you that,” Pan says as he pulls out some sort of reed and blows into it. Once, twice, and on the third the whistle is so high pitched, everyone on the ship grabs onto their ears.

Regina uses her magic to protect her ears from more of those terrible whistle noises, the last thing everyone on the ship needs is to be inept because of some noise. She watches as a swarm of young boys flies toward them. _They’re so young_ she thinks. _I won’t even let boys this young into the guard. Why are they fighting for Pan?_

She doesn’t get a chance to ponder more because the boys are upon them and fighting the crew. Her focus is now on Pan as they began a magical dance. They throw magic at each other, each sidestepping the other’s blows.

Pan decides he’s going to change his magic, but Regina already knows his tell. Before he throws his magic, his left pinky dips toward the deck before he pushes his magic. Regina hones in on this feature and uses it to avoid his magic.

He is growing impatient. It can be seen in the way his brow twitches. He’s not used to having to fight to win. His thrusts are becoming sloppy. He throws his magic in such a way that Regina can block it and send it back at him, throwing him overboard once again. This time, he doesn’t go below the water and Regina sees why. The ship is surrounded by mermaids now. Pan pulls out his flute again and begins to play a tune. Immediately, the Lost Boys stop fighting and begin to dance.

Regina is confused, _what kind of magic is this?_ She looks and notices Angelica seems to be unaffected by the noise. They share a look and carefully move away from the dancing, watching Pan to make sure he keeps his eyes shut.

When they stand together Regina whispers, “What is this?”

Angelica shrugs, “I’m not sure. I’ve only heard about this. I had assumed this only worked on the Lost Boys but it would make sense for Pan to use this to lure boys onto the island in the first place.”

“How long do you think they can keep this up?” Regina asks, watching the crew and Lost Boys dance together around the Main Mast.

“Most likely until they die. I think that’s what Pan is hoping for. I don’t think he expected us to be immune to the music.”

“Let’s make sure he keeps thinking we’re not immune,” Regina whispers.

Angelica nods and hopes Pan doesn’t open his eyes. She stares at him and her eyes grow wide, “The compass,” she whispers. “On his belt,” she elaborates when Regina doesn’t see it.

Regina looks and sees what looks like a regular compass. A simple black box with silver bars surrounding the corners. “We have to get to him without the mermaids noticing,” Regina whispers. She points over the side of the boat when Angelica gives her a confused look.

Angelica can’t believe her eyes. The entire ship is surrounded by mermaids. She’s never seen so many at one time.

It’s only then that they realize the mermaids are carefully pushing the ship toward a cove on the island. Angelica and Regina share a look, _this can’t be good_ . They realize they’re severely outnumbered but Angelica carefully moves toward Pan, who is floating just above the side of the ship. _If she could just get a hold of that compass._ But what happens when they get the compass? Pan will just take it back. She turns back to Regina and asks, “Can you transport the ship?”

“What?”

“Can you transport the ship,” she repeats. “When I get that compass you’ll need to transport us away from Pan, the Lost Boys, and these mermaids.”

Regina looks unsure but then nods, “I can get us away from them, but they’ll be back quickly. Then what?”

Angelica smiles, “I have a way out of this bloody realm.”

Regina nods and says, “Alright, when you have the compass I can get us out of here.”

Angelica moves toward Pan again. She reaches out and puts her hand on the compass but before she has a chance to remove it from his belt, his eyes pop open and he stops playing the flute. He quickly closes his eyes and starts playing a different tune, using different parts of the flute.

Regina watches as Angelica, who pulled away without the compass, begins to dance with the others. She’s hiding behind some wood barrels of rum, so Pan doesn’t notice her. She reaches inside of her to feel her magic, careful not to release it yet-Pan said he could feel when magic was used.

She crouches along the edge of the boat. Pan has his eyes closed again, making it easier for Regina to move closer to him. The only thing she has to worry about is those damn mermaids. She thinks that perhaps if she could just touch Angelica, her magic would transfer directly to her and not leave enough residual magic for Pan to notice. Now to just get close enough.

The boat creaks and shifts to the left, causing Regina to lose her footing. She drops to her hands and knees and slides into the side of the ship hard. She grunts and her eyes open wide. She waits a moment to see if the mermaids caught that grunt. It’s a surprise that none of the people dancing fell when the boat shifted, but Regina guesses that when someone is controlling your movements, you won’t be able to lose your balance.

She shifts closer to the side and is able to regain her footing. She slowly stands and realizes the boat is almost to the island. She can see the cove looming in the distance. _We cannot get inside that cove_ she thinks as she feels the strong magic hovering over the island.

She takes a step toward Angelica and the boat shifts again, causing her to lose her footing and fall into Angelica. They fall to the ground but Angelica doesn’t stop dancing until Regina remembers to release her magic. Suddenly, Angelica’s ears are magically plugged and no longer hearing the melodic tune of the flute.

Angelica blinks-looking like she’s waking from a trance. “Oh that little shit!” she grounds out as she sinks to the ground next to Regina and moves toward Pan, trying to stay out of the mermaids line of sight. “We’ll have to be quicker this time,” Angelica tells Regina. “Can you transport the boat without the mermaids or Lost Boys?”

Regina thinks for a moment and then nods, she’ll figure it out.

Angelica nods back and moves closer to Pan. She waits for him to take a breath and reaches up toward his belt, “NOW!” she yells.

Everything happens in an instant. Angelica yanks the compass from Pan’s belt. Pan stops playing the flute, which causes the Lost Boys and the pirate crew to stop dancing and start fighting once the fog clears from their mind. Regina sends a blast of electricity through the bottom of the boat, causing the mermaids to stop pushing the boat into the cove and swim away with dramatic screams. Regina uses her magic to push Pan under water long enough to magic the Lost Boys off the boat and into the water with Pan. She looks up to see Angelica running to the front of the boat and she reaches for the last bit of her magic and transports the ship and it’s crew into the middle of the sea where they first landed in Neverland.

“REGINA!” Angelica screams from the front of the boat. When Regina doesn’t move from her crouched position on the deck, Angelica drawls, “Got any magic left, _Princess?_ ”

Regina growls and manages to stand up, despite the terrible migraine brewing behind her eyes. “What for? You told me you had a way out, so why aren’t we out, _Captain_?” she snarks back.

Angelica chuckles, “I do, but I need some more magic. I’m going to draw Pan’s shadow in, and you’re going to magically sew it into the sail. That way, we can travel between realms whenever we please.”

Regina tries to follow, but she’s feeling a little light-headed after all the magic she’s used.

Two of the men, Regina thinks she met them earlier when she bested them at sword fighting, grab at her arms to hold her steady as she sways. They half-carry half-drag her to a spot beneath the main sail. “Ready?” the one man wearing an eye-patch asks.

Regina nods and blinks away the fog surrounding her brain. She straightens her stance and calls up her magic, ready to use it when the shadow appears.

Angelica lights a torch on fire and starts swinging it back and forth above her head.

“Is she crazy?” Regina asks to no one in particular. “What the hell is she doing?”

“She’s calling the Shadow,” the man next to her without the eye-patch says.

Regina watches as a movement from next to the ship catches her eye. It was too dark to see much but she thought she saw a pair of glowing eyes.

The Shadow pops up in front of Angelica. Regina see it’s outline now. She looks between it and the main sail. _I’m supposed to put a shadow on that?_ She takes a deep breath. She was the Evil Queen, she could handle a Shadow on a sail.

When Angelica has the Shadow directly above her, Regina reaches out with her magic like a viper, catching the Shadow between her fangs. She moves her magic, and the Shadow, in front of the main sail and begins attaching the Shadow, so nothing-not even a realm without magic-can remove the Shadow.

She adds an extra security spell over her magic, so no one attempts to remove the Shadow from the sail and uses Blood Magic as her final spell to protect the boat and it’s now-magical sail.

Regina sways on her feet. The two men who held her before are quick to grab her and keep her upright.

“Now would be a good time to leave,” Regina slurs. She feels drunk, everything is moving in slow motion and she can’t quite catch a proper thought to speak. She wants to fight back after that ‘princess’ comment but she finds she doesn’t have the energy. She turns her head to see Angelica at the helm _how’d she get there so fast?_ Her head lolls forward, she realizes she’s no longer keeping herself upright.

Her body feels like jello. The last thing she hears is, “this is better than pixie dust” whispered, before everything goes black.


	4. The Meeting

She wakes and doesn’t know where she is. Her memory is jumbled and everything feels fuzzy. She sits up and realizes she’s in quarters she doesn’t recognize. _Where am I?_ She feels a gentle sway and hears water hitting something. Okay, so she’s still on the ship. But where on the ship? These aren’t Angelica’s quarters…

She stands up and feels light-headed again. She reaches for the wall and waits for everything to stop spinning. She gets her bearings and gets dressed- _who’s clothes are these?_ -but they were left out, so she assumes they were left for her.

She dresses and applies a bit of makeup-she looks horrendous- _what happened?_ She realizes that magic is different wherever they went. It’s here, she can feel it, it’s just hard to access. She finishes getting ready and heads out to the deck.

“Well hello there, _First Mate,_ ” Angelica says as she turns away from the helm to greet Regina.

She’s confused, _What the hell?_ “I’m sorry?”

Angelica laughs and turns back to steering the ship. “You’ll get used to the title change, Mills. You’ve earned it. After yesterday, the whole crew agreed. You’ve been acting as my second-in-command anyways; it was time to make it official.”

Regina steps up next to Angelica and says, “But I only just started.”

“It’s been a year, Mills. I think we can say you’re no longer the Scallywag.”

“A year?” Regina asks.

Now Angelica turns to look at Regina, “Yes, a year. What’s with all the questions Mills?”

Regina looks out to the open ocean, “I don’t remember it being a year. That’s all.” Angelica allows another pirate to take over steering the boat and follows Regina down the steps to the main deck and over to the side of the ship. “The Land Without Color?” she asks, pointing to an island in the distance.

Angelica nods slowly, still confused. “Been here for three days. We’re getting ready to head out again. Now, how long did you think it had been?”

Regina shrugs. She surprises herself since she hasn’t shrugged since she was eight. Her mother made it _very_ clear that was unacceptable behavior for a future queen.

“Alright, Mills. You’re acting very strange. What’s the last thing you remember?”

Regina thinks for a moment, “Pixie dust?”

Angelica turns away from the sea and stares at her crew. “Did one of you Boneheads give Mills pixie dust yesterday?”

Head shakes occur in response as the crew pauses what they’re doing to answer their captain’s question.

One of the pirates, Ragetti- _how do I know his name?_ \- pipes up from the back, “the last time we was talkin ‘bout pixie dusts was back in Neverland, Cap’n.”

Angelica looks at Regina for a moment before saying, “that will be all.” And marches back up the stairs. “Mills!” She calls behind her.

Regina takes a moment to gather herself as she follows Angelica into the captain’s quarters.

“You forgot an entire year? What the bloody hell Mills?” she asks as soon as the door closes behind them.

Regina shrugs again. _Why am I doing that?_ She recovers from the shock of that trait and says, “I’m not sure, Captain. Everything’s jumbled and nothing makes sense.”

Angelica nods, “You did hit your head pretty hard last night when we were raiding the military ship. And then you decided to drink with the rest of the crew. I thought you could hold you own, and you did-for a while. It took Gibbs, Pintel, and Ragetti to get you into your new cabin and into bed safely because you drank yourself stupid.” She says the last sentence with a raised eyebrow, high enough to cause Regina to look down at her feet in shame. She doesn’t remember a time when she drank so much.

“Don’t think too much about this, Mills. It will come back. Perhaps. Or maybe you’ll just have to get used to missing a year. What you need to know is you’ve worked your ass of this past year, proving yourself over and over as one of our best assets. That’s why you’re my First Mate. Gibbs stepped down specifically so you could move up. Everyone knew this was going to happen. It’s fairly recent, so it would be an adjustment even with your memories. I only need to tell you that we’re heading back to the Enchanted Forest.”

Regina opens her mouth to protest but stops when Angelica holds up her hand. “You’ve already said that you disagree with this decision but I am still the captain of this ship and we are going back. I am meeting a contact there before we head out on our next adventure. You will have better access to your magic and have been given the choice to stay aboard the ship or come on land. That’s entirely up to you, Regina. You told me you would think on it last night...but that obviously didn’t happen.” She ends with a smirk, telling Regina she’s not upset but is instead looking out for her.

“Thank you,” Regina says quietly, trying to process everything she just heard.

Angelica nods and stands away from the shelf she was leaning against. “You’ve been a huge asset to us, Regina. We love having you aboard the Black Pearl. I’m going to go back to the helm and direct the crew while we head back. I’ll give you some time to decide what you want to do.”

Regina stands with her, “I don’t need time, I will go on land in disguise to make sure all goes well with your meeting.”

Angelica smiles and nods, “Alrighty then, let’s get out of this damned land without color and back to the Enchanted Forest.”

xx

The trip goes smoothly. Regina doesn’t remember using Pan’s Shadow to travel between realms but she realizes how easy it is. There’s no holding onto the ship and hoping you don’t fall off, it just sails out of the water, into the sky, and back down in the water in another realm. Her realm.

She can tell she’s in the Enchanted Forest immediately. The air is different, familiar, but in a way that causes dread, not a sense of safety. Regina’s stomach sinks as they pull into port. She sees the same tavern where she first met Angelica and joined her crew. She’s so close to her kingdom - _Snow’s kingdom_. She’s not sure how to feel. _Do they know I’m gone yet?_ She doesn’t get to wonder too much because Angelica is shouting out orders.

“We’re not staying days, men. You get the night. Use it wisely and be aboard at dawn or you’ll be left behind!”

The men all grumble, but nod at the order.

“Alright, now get off my ship, ya filthy blokes.”

The men all run off the gangplank and onto the pier. Angelica turns to Regina and offers a small smile.

Regina smirks and holds up both hands next to her head. She flicks her wrists, and magic surrounds her. When the purple dust clears, someone else stands in her place. She’s the same height as Regina, but her skin is darker, her hair curlier, yet the same piercing chestnut eyes. “What do you think?” Regina asks in a voice that isn’t hers.

“Regina?” Angelica asks in disbelief.

“I was thinking Myrina. Different body, different name, yes?” The sultry voice asks with a smirk.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Angelica says, trying to remember that this person in front of her is still Regina and not someone else. “Having the name Regina will probably turn a few heads.”

Regina nods and poofs a full-length mirror in front of her so she can check her appearance. She starts with her hair, tight curls hang in waves down her back. Golden hoop earrings hang from her ears while charcoal lines her eyes, making them pop more than usual. Her eyes are the same as they’ve always been but seeing them on tanner skin with thicker eyebrows and dark eyeliner makes her entirely unrecognizable.

She continues looking down the mirror to see herself, her skin looking like caramel, wearing a deep-red, off the shoulder dress with a corset top. Gold rope ties the corset together and leads to a thin gold holster laying flat against her hips. She sees her sword and dagger on her hip. She wonders shortly before accepting the knowledge as part of her missing year of memories. She continues down to her boots, leather black heels that look like something the Evil Queen would wear. They’ll be easy for her to move in and she’ll be capable to help Angelica if the need would arise.

Regina uses magic to get rid of the mirror and turns to Angelica, “Ready?” she asks in her new voice.

Angelica gives Regina another strange look before walking off the boat and onto the pier.

They walk into the tavern and the smell of alcohol hits Regina, causing her nose to crinkle. She follows Angelica to a table in the back where a man sits slouched over a cup of ale. Regina looks around to see the other men drinking, singing, and flirting with the bar maids. She rolls her eyes at Pintel and Ragetti fighting to get closer to one of the bar maids that’s bending over to clean off one of the tables. _Men._

She stands behind Angelica when she sits across from the drunk. “Hello Hook,” Angelica drawls.

Regina freezes. _Captain Hook?_ Of course fate would work like this. He _is_ a pirate-a dirty pirate-and he has a lot of connections. Regina assumes that’s what happens when you cheat death for hundreds of years.

Hook looks up from her beer and tries to blink away his drunken haze. When his eyes focus he smiles, causing Regina’s hair to stand on end. _He’s a creep._ “Angelica! How’s the most beautiful pirate captain I know.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere here, Hook. You have something I want, what do you want for it?”

“Come on, Love. What happened to a little foreplay?” He says with a slimy smile. He looks from Angelica to Regina and she stiffens. “Who’s your pretty friend? I’ll take her and you can have my telescope.” He raises his eyebrows in a way that he must think is attractive, but made Regina’s skin crawl.

“She’d cut off your head and take your ship as her own before your crew even had a chance to raise the anchor,” Angelica says matter of factly.

Hook looks up at Regina, sizing her up. Regina releases a wicked grin.

Before Hook can say anything, a blonde barmaid comes over with two cups of ale and hands one to Regina and sets one in front of Angelica. “Can I get you guys anything else?” she asks sweetly.

Regina and Angelica both shake their heads no so the barmaid starts to move back to the bar. Hook reaches out and grabs the barmaid around the waist and pulls her onto his lap.

She protests, “Let. Go.”

“Oh, Princess, don’t pretend you don’t like it,” Hook says as he reaches his hand around the maid to grab at her chest.

The barmaid gasps and elbows Hook in the stomach. He releases her and she stands up, brushing herself off. “Do _not_ call me that,” she says as she walks back toward the bar, pretending that nothing happened.

Angelica and Regina watch as Hook coughs but still tries to laugh, “I like it when you play hard to get, Princess! Makes the game that much more fun!” he shouts after the retreating blonde. He looks to Angelica and Regina and smiles, “Ladies love a pirate.”

Regina rolls her eyes and Angelica places a bag on the table. “This is more than enough to cover for that telescope.”

Hook grabs the bag and looks inside. He hums his approval and pulls out an emerald necklace. _Regina’s_ emerald necklace. She tries not to show her surprise, she gave that to Angelica as part of her fee to board the Black Pearl. She supposes she shouldn’t be surprised. She gave that to Angelica to get away from here. From her life here in exile. Hook looks to Angelica and asks, “You stole from the Evil Queen?”

Angelica’s body language doesn’t change, she merely shrugs and says, “what’s it to you, Hook?”

“Did you get this before she disappeared or after?”

At this, Regina perks up. So, they _did_ know she was gone.

“Does it matter? It’s real. And worth a lot. I want my telescope, Hook,” Angelica says, undeterred.

“I heard her place was looted after the King and Queen realized she was gone,” Hook says off-handedly. “No one’s even mentioned her name in years. It’s surprising that you’ve held onto this for so long. Must’ve been waiting for a _special_ occasion, huh?” he asks with a smirk.

“Years?” Regina asks, unable to keep quiet any longer.

Angelica turns to her, warning Regina to be quiet lest she lose her cover, but Hook is too drunk or too stupid to realize. “I guess it’s been 20 years now since they just celebrated the princess’ birthday ball. They found out the Evil Queen disappeared after the birth of the princess. She’s been hidden away for her protection ever since.”

Regina and Angelica share a look. Angelica hoping Regina stops asking questions, Regina wondering why Hook thinks she’s been gone 20 years. She doesn’t have a chance to ask anything else because something breaks behind her.

She spins around with her hand on her sword, looking for the cause of the noise. She sees the blonde barmaid from earlier pushed up against the wall, struggling against a large burly man. The barmaid is pinned at her shoulders and she can’t land a kick. The man leans harder against the wall, crushing the barmaid.

Regina moves toward them without a second thought. She rushes across the bar and as she gets closer, she sees the man is saying something. Whatever it was, the barmaid fights harder against him. Regina stops behind him and says, “Let her go.”

The man turns his head but doesn’t move from his spot against the barmaid, “Get lost wench. She’s mine.”

He turns back to the barmaid and puts his hand against the wall since he uses his body weight to keep her in place.

Regina tsks, “Now that’s no way to talk to a lady,” she pulls the dagger from her belt and in one fluid movement, shoves it into his hand, causing an inhuman scream to leave his mouth. He pulls away from the maid and spins toward Regina. She pulls, causing the man to follow his hand, which still has a dagger in the middle. He winds up face-down on a table with Regina’s dagger at his throat. “You should learn to listen.”

She stands up and wipes her dagger on the man’s shirt before shoving him off the table. Everyone is staring, the tavern is silent; Regina doesn’t let it bother her. She’s used to stares in the Enchanted Forest. She’s used to being feared here. It’s not the greatest feeling, but she deals with it because the maid is not being attacked anymore. She turns to said-maid to ask if she’s alright but doesn’t get the chance. “I was _fine_ , you didn’t need to step in,” the blonde grumbles.

“Excuse me?” Regina says, not understanding why the maid wasn’t thankful. “You were pinned against a man three times your size. You were not getting out of that alone.”

The blonde scoffs, “I had it handled.” She brushes off her outfit, pretending to be fine.

Regina rolls her eyes, she knows when someone is pretending to be fine when they’re really going crazy. “Saying thank you would’ve sufficed,” she says as she turns away from the maid, moving back toward Angelica.

She doesn’t see the maid the rest of the night. Which doesn’t bother Regina, at all. Nope, not at all. She waits for Angelica to get the telescope, which takes all night. _Who knew pirates were so attached to their possessions?_ Hook was adamant about wanting more than the telescope was worth but eventually he relented to Angelica’s negotiations - and Regina’s influence of magic in his rum.

She follows Angelica out of the tavern and presumably back toward the ship where the crew will be waiting; it’s almost dawn. She walks behind Angelica until something grabs her from behind. She doesn’t have a chance to grab for her weapon because her wrists are held above her head and someone’s hand is across her mouth.

Her magic swells inside her, ready to lash out, when she realizes it’s the barmaid from before. This gives her pause, she doesn’t want to hurt the barmaid. The maid pulls Regina’s dagger from her belt and pushes it against her throat. Regina chuckles, a dark and dangerous chuckle she hasn’t used since she spent her days chasing Snow. “You have no idea what you’re doing,” she says as she tries to point a finger at the bar maid while her hands are still being held above her head.

“ _Y_ _ou’re_ questioning _me_ right now? I’m holding a knife to your throat and you _laugh_?” The maid asks in disbelief.

Regina rolls her eyes and twirls her wrist. Now she’s the one pinning the barmaid to the outer wall of the tavern, holding the dagger against her throat with one hand, holding her wrists above her head with the other. Regina smiles and lets the barmaid go. She returns the dagger to her belt and looks up to see the barmaid frozen against the wall.

“That...you’re...wha….magic?” she asks in disbelief.

Regina turns and studies the barmaid, “Pardon?”

“You...you have...magic?”

Regina freezes, _shit._ “Well...uhhm…” she trails off, unsure how to respond. _Is magic outlawed now? It wouldn’t surprise me if Snow did something like that. Oh God, what if this maid rats me out._ She doesn’t really want kill this barmaid, but she can’t be caught now.

“I’ve never met someone else who has magic,” the maid says in awe.

 _Someone_ **_else_** _?_ “You have magic?” Regina asks quietly, suddenly unsure of how to continue.

The maid looks down at her feet. “Well, sort of. It was more prevalent when I was little, but it’s easier to control now that I’m older. I hardly feel it anymore. I’m Tiana,” she says, holding out a hand to Regina.

Regina shakes her hand, “Tiana? Like the fairy queen?”

She shrugs, “I guess so. Maybe my parents had a feeling I would need the fairies to protect them from me.”

Now that Regina’s looking for a magical residue, she can feel it. It’s diluted, blocked by something, but it’s there. “You don’t feel your magic as much because someone blocked it,” Regina says off-handedly. Trying to place the magical signature.

“What?!” The maid asks.

Regina shrugs, obviously someone didn’t want this maid to have magic.

“Get rid of it,” the maid demands.

“Get rid of it?” Regina doesn’t understand.

“Get rid of the block!”

Regina shakes her head, “I don’t have that kind of power.” She most certainly does; it would take some time but she could figure it out, but this maid can’t know that. Whoever put the block in place would certainly notice and come looking for Regina, she can’t have that.

The maid stomps her foot in anger, causing Regina to stiffen, she would not be privy to this level of immaturity.

“I have to leave, they’ll be waiting at the boat,” she says, starting to move out of the darkness and away from the tavern wall.

“Wait! Will you be coming back?” the maid asks.

 _I hope not_ Regina thinks, but merely shrugs and keeps walking, not turning back to face the maid.

“At least tell me your name,” the maid huffs.

Regina turns around and smiles wickedly, “Myrina.”

The maid’s eyes pop, “Isn’t that a queen?” She walks out toward Regina, standing right in front of her.

Regina knows adoration when she sees it, “Exactly,” she whispers in Tiana’s face. She winks and walks away, disappearing into the darkness.

She’s barely back on the boat before she hears, “MILLS!”

“Yes?” she asks calmly, walking up to Angelica.

“Where in the Hell did you go?” she asks.

Regina shrugs, “I stayed at the tavern for another drink.”

Angelica stares at her, not believing her story. “Take off that damned disguise, I can’t take you seriously, Mills,” she huffs.

“Myrina,” Regina responds with a smirk. She flicks her wrist and she’s back in her earlier outfit, a black and gold corset, black leather pants, black knee-high boots, and a dark purple floor-length coat. _An outfit fit for a pirate._ Her skin and hair are back and she laughs, finally it’s back to normal.

“I’ll call you _Princess_ before I call you Myrina,” Angelica points out.

Regina rolls her eyes. She decides to change the subject away from that damned word. This makes her think about the _real_ princess. The daughter of Snow White. Regina gave up on revenge against Snow, but there’s a small part of her that wants to know what the little - no, adult - princess is like. _Is she as spoiled and entitled as her mother? Why hasn’t anyone seen the princess? Did her parents truly lock her away?_ She’s pulled from her thoughts when the whole crew is watching her, “Where to, Captain?” she asks, putting the crew’s attention on Angelica.

“The Land Before Time,” she answers ominously.


	5. The Fairy

Regina’s heard stories about this land. A land where humans don’t exist and the monsters are bigger than the entire summer castle. She realizes she’s not as excited as she should be, she just wants to go back to the Enchanted Forest to learn about the missing two decades. And maybe see that barmaid again.

The Land Before Time is a mess. Monsters called _dinosaurs_ roam the earth and ravage the land and sea. They had to outrun a dinosaur with huge legs, a giant head, but teeny, tiny arms. They hid behind a tree that’s trunk was larger than a tower in Regina’s castle and saw a monster so large, its neck touched the sky.

They head back to the Enchanted Forest because that was part of Hook’s deal. He wouldn’t take the necklace, afraid the Evil Queen had cursed it before she disappeared. He decided he wanted a dinosaur egg in return for the telescope. And Angelica’s company once again.

Regina rolls her eyes as she thinks about the slimy pirate. She’s standing at the front of the boat-disguise on-watching for the port to come into view. She feels something coil in her stomach, _excitement? No, fear? Hmmm_ she can’t quite put her finger on it; all she knows is she wants to find that barmaid again.

This time they’re staying in the Enchanted Forest for three days. There are no questions asked, the crew just runs toward the tavern. Regina and Angelica are the last off the boat, making sure everything is in place for the boat to stay on the dock for three days. Together, they walk toward the tavern.

“Are you going to find that barmaid?” Angelica says off-handedly as they near the tavern.

Regina pauses, “What?” she asks.

Angelica stops walking as well, “Isn’t that why you’re okay with us coming back here and not remaining on the ship?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.

Regina scoffs, “Noooo, I want to know why Hook thinks 20 years have passed here.”

“Because they have,” Angelica says simple.

“What?” Regina asks for the second time.

Angelica shrugs, “Time works differently in different realms. It may feel like weeks and only be a day or it might feel like hours and be years. It’s just how it is. So, it feels like we’ve been gone for about a year. Well, it _should_ feel like we’ve been gone for a year but with your missing memories it probably feels like you’ve been gone only a week,” she pauses as she gets lost in a thought. She shakes her head and says, “Anyway, here in the Enchanted Forest, 20 years have gone by. It can be a little hard to adjust to, especially since we jumped between so many different realms, even I didn’t know how much time had actually passed. And if I remember correctly, The Land Before Time is also different than the Enchanted Forest, so it’s probably felt like a couple weeks for everyone here.”

Regina nods, trying to process this information, _weeks?_

“So, that barmaid. Aren’t you a _little_ curious to see how she’s doing?” Angelica prods.

Regina rolls her eyes, “I couldn’t care less, Angelica.”

Now is Angelica’s turn to scoff as she stands in front of Regina, “Please. You saved her life. Someone known as Evil wouldn’t save someone if there wasn’t an ulterior motive.”

Regina smirks, “Maybe I just want free drinks.”

“Har-har, Mills. I’m onto your little charade. Just don’t bring her aboard my ship. We don’t need another wench.”

Regina gasps, “ _Another?_ I do disagree, _Captain_. It was you who wanted another woman aboard.”

Angelica laughs, “I think I might regret that decision someday.” She rolls her eyes and turns back toward the tavern and starts walking again.

They walk into the tavern together and head toward Hook, who is, again, slumped over his drink at the back table.

Regina sees the barmaid behind the bar but doesn’t say anything or pretend to notice her since Angelica would never let it go. She follows Angelica to the back table and takes up her stance behind Angelica, watching everything happening around them in case something were to erupt.

“Ah! Angelica,” Hook calls as she sits down across from him, “and your trusty guard dog. She’s quite fierce with her dagger, isn’t she?”

“She wouldn’t be my first mate if she wasn’t the best,” Angelica says simply.

“Oooh! A pirate ship run by women,” Hook slurs. He turns to Regina and leers, “how about we head upstairs and I show you _my_ dagger.” He waggles his eyebrows as she maintains a straight face. She’s had to deal with enough overzealous men that she can ignore it.

“Hook,” Angelica says, getting his attention away from Regina. “I have your egg.”

He claps his hand, distracted by the promise of treasure, “Do you hear that Smee?” he asks as he turns to the man slumped behind him.

The man, Smee, sits up, “Aye, Captain, but what are we to do with it?” he asks as he wipes his brow.

“Never you mind, Smee. Now give me the egg, Angelica,” he says as he holds his hands out over the table.

Angelica reaches into her bag but before she can pull out the egg, Tiana, the barmaid, comes over with drinks. She places one in front of the three sitting at the table but hands one to Regina. She gives a big smile and says, “Glad to see you made it back here in one piece. I hear realm traveling can be dangerous.”

Regina shrugs, no longer aware how improper the gesture, “It’s not so bad. Very similar to teleporting.”

Tiana’s eyes grow wide and she grabs Regina’s arm and pulls her into the hallway connecting the tavern to the inn. “Are you insane?!” she hisses in Regina’s face when she turns around.

“Excuse me?” Regina asks confused.

“You cannot talk about magic here! If someone hears you, they’ll turn you over to the royal guard and they’ll kill you!”

Regina pauses, _they’re killing_ **_anything_ ** _with magic?_ “What? They’re killing magical beings?”

The barmaid gives Regina a strange look, “They have been for as long as I can remember,” she says with a shrug.

“Why?” Regina asks, feeling very curious as to Snow’s sudden fear of everything magical.

Tiana shrugs again, “Not sure. Apparently there was a ban on magical creatures before the Evil Queen and they went back to it after her reign of terror.”

Regina raises an eyebrow, “Reign of terror?” she mocks back.

This time, Tiana smiles, “That’s how it’s described now. But between you and me,” she leans closer to Regina’s ear, “I’ve always found the Evil Queen more interesting than terrifying.”

Regina smirks, “Really? I’m sure that’s quite the secret to keep here.”

Tina shrugs, “No different than keeping my magic a secret.”

Regina nods in understanding, knowing exactly what it’s like to hide magic. There’s a moment of silence, neither woman knowing what to say. “I-”

“I-”

They share an awkward smile as they speak at the same time. But before they have a chance to speak more, there’s a loud shout in the main room. Regina spares a small shrug at the barmaid before she moves out of the hallway and back into sight of Angelica.

Angelica, however, is not looking in Regina’s direction. She’s focused on the doorway. Regina turns toward the entrance of the tavern and sees what looks like the royal guard enter.

“Shit.” Regina turns to see the barmaid looking over Regina’s shoulder. “We have to hide.”

“What?” Regina asks. She has a disguise. No one would recognize her; why would she need to hide?

“They can’t know that I’m here,” the barmaid says. She holds out her hand toward Regina. “Will you help me hide?”

Regina looks at the hand waiting in front of her. She looks into the barmaids eyes and sees the pleading look pooling in the depths. She takes the hand and nods. She turns to see the guards walking up to the bar. She then notices Angelica, carefully making her way towards Regina. She notices how Angelica is holding her hands carefully in front of her and she realizes that she still has the egg. She moves when Tiana tugs her hand. Before she follows her back into the hallway, she makes eye contact with Angelica and they share a nod. Regina squeezes Tiana’s hand and follows her into one of the empty rooms down the hallway.

When they walk into the room Regina looks around; it’s nothing special, just four walls and a bed. But what else do you need when it’s just used for the barmaids to take young men for some night company. Tiana moves toward the window but it won’t budge, “Damn, I picked the wrong room. We have to go to the other one.”

She steps toward the door but Angelica quickly steps in and closes the door behind her, leaning against it. “They’re heading this way. They said they needed to check all of the rooms.”

“Do we know what they’re looking for?” Regina asks.

Angelica shakes her head, “Just started saying they were looking for “her”. Don’t know who she is, but the whole royal guard is out there.”

“It’s me.” Tiana says standing in the middle of the room. She’s standing in the middle of room facing Angelica and Regina. When they don’t say anything she continues, “they’re looking for me.”

“Why?” Angelica asks.

Tiana shrugs. “That’s not important. What’s important is that they don’t find me. Please,” she begs, “don’t let them find me.”

Regina looks to Angelica and waits for the nod. She smiles and says, “Okay, let’s hide you.”

“Can you fit under the bed?” Angelica asks.

Tiana shakes her head, “There’s not enough room.”

“You can’t go back there!” They hear from outside the room.

Regina watches Tiana jump as the guards yell that they will go through every room until they find “her”.

“I can try to fit under,” Angelica says as she pulls off her coat and hands the egg to Regina, “This won’t fit though. “ She starts to shimmy under the bed.

“You won’t fit,” Regina says. “Here, let me hide you with my magic.”

“No!” Tiana hisses, “They have fairies.”

Regina groans, if they have fairies, she can’t use her magic. They’ll catch her signature in an instance and the disguise would be for naught. “I. Hate. Fairies.” She growls and moves to the door to see if she can hear anything more. She carefully reaches out with a little magic to amplify her hearing without tipping a fairy off.

“Why would she be here?”

“I do not know her reasons, I can only feel her magic tied to mine.”

Regina clenches her teeth. _Blue._ The voices are nearby but not close enough to hear her as she turns around to say, “Fairies are following your magic signature.”

“My what?” Tiana asks.

“Everyone has a magical signature. It’s a marking every time you use it. Since yours is blocked, the fairies can trace you by using their own magic.”

The barmaid narrows her eyes, “Blue.”

“Never trust a fairy,” Regina says. She takes a step toward Tiana and asks, “Can I move your signature so they don’t find us?”

Tiana looks at her, standing far too close. “What about them finding you?”

Regina shrugs, “I can make your magic move without using enough to notify the fairies. Blue is so wrapped up in being perfect that she’ll never even know I was here.”

“Okay,” Tiana whispers, “do it.”

Regina smiles and takes Tiana’s hand. She raises her free hand towards the door and slowly releases a stream of magic to move the barmaid’s magic as though she were running through the hallway and out the far window.

“She’s on the move! She just left the rooms. Get outside and find her!” Blue yells as she flies out of the hallway.

Regina hears the fluttering of wings fade and realizes the fairy and guards have left. She sighs, “They’re gone.” She turns to see Angelica watching out the window, holding the dinosaur egg safely out of sight. She turns to see Tiana staring at the door.

“Looks like they went further down the road,” Angelica says, turning around to face the other two women.

“They’ll chase a false trail for a few hours and then it’ll grow cold, leaving them confused and hopefully a little lost,” Regina ends with a smirk, hoping to lighten the mood. She notices Tiana’s still unfocused, so she gently squeezed the hand engulfed in her own. Tiana slowly blinks into focus on Regina.

“Thank you,” she says with a small smile, “do you know how long it will last?”

Regina shakes her head, “It’s not exact, it’s just going to take them through the woods and hopefully make them run around enough that they either give up or get lost.”

Tiana nods, looking out of the window.

“CAPTAIN!” someone yells from outside the door.

Tiana jumps at the shout and pulls her hand free of Regina’s. She quickly wraps her arms around herself and faces away from the door.

Angelica steps forward and opens the door. “What Gibbs?”

“The royal guard are clearing out the tavern and the port, Captain. All ships must depart straight away.”

Angelica sighs and turns to Regina, “What do you say Mills? Ready for another adventure?”

Regina nods and then turns toward the barmaid.

“Alrighty then.” She turns to Gibbs, “Have the crew return to the ship and prepare for departure.” She looks back to Regina, “As soon as you’re back to the boat, we’ll leave. Don’t dawdle Mills.”

“Of course, Captain,” Regina says, distracted.

Angelica stays a moment longer before disappearing out the door with the rest of the crew.

“Are you alright?” Regina asks, afraid to frighten the barmaid.

Tiana turns to look at Regina, “You’re still here?”

Regina nods, “I have to head back to the ship but I want to make sure you’re alright.”

Tiana gives a small smile, “No one’s ever checked to see if I was alright before leaving before. Everyone’s always too busy.”

Regina knows that feeling. Everyone in her life up until she became a pirate wanted her for some reason or another. There was always an ulterior motive in every interaction she had. And if there was no ulterior motive, there was no interaction at all. She was alone until someone needed something from her. She merely nods at Tiana and says, “Are you alright?”

The barmaid gives another smile, this one slightly bigger and more sincere than the rest, “I will be.”

“Are you going to run?”

“I’m not sure yet. I guess I’ll wait and see what happens with the royal guard tonight.” Regina stares at Tiana for another moment. “What?” she asks, tilting her head toward Regina.

“Why is your magic tied to the Blue Fairy?”

“What?” Tiana asks, confused at the question.

“The Blue Fairy is connected to the royal family, yet she was the fairy to tie your magic?”

“Uhhh-” Tiana pauses in surprise, “I used to live within the castle before my caretaker passed and I ran away. I’m surprised you know about the Blue Fairy. Have you met her before?”

Regina’s nose crinkles in disgust, “We’ve met before.”

The barmaid chuckles, “I take it there aren’t any good memories?”

Regina smirks and shakes her head.

“I suppose you have to leave now?”

Regina nods, “I’ll have to return to the ship so we can set off.”

Tiana bobs her head, “Well, thank you. You know - for getting rid of the fairy and the minions.”

A smile breaks across Regina’s face, “You’re welcome. Do you need help getting out of here?”

The barmaid shakes her head with a wicked grin on her face, “I’m quite capable of a quick escape.”

Regina sees the smirk and can’t help but return it with one of her own, “Best of luck, Tiana.”

Tiana steps closer to Regina, standing directly in front of the open window. “Thank you Myrina. Truly. I am forever in your debt.” Regina scoffs and rolls her eyes but Tiana continues, “perhaps we’ll run into each other again someday.”

Regina smirks, “I hope the next time will be the first where you don’t need to be saved.”

“Har-har, Myrina, Queen of the Amazons.”

“You read?” Regina asks with a raised eyebrow

“And she speaks with a tone of surprise,” the barmaid mocks, looking offended with a hand above her heart.

Regina merely shakes her head, trying to keep the smile off her face. _When did she become so soft? Must be because of that damned missing year._

“As fun as this has been, you need to get back to your ship and I need to make a quick getaway before the guards find me. Thank you, again, Myrina.” She steps forward and kisses Regina’s cheek. Before Regina can respond, Tiana is out the window and running into the darkness.

Regina stands in the middle of the room, the feel of Tiana’s lips still on her cheek. She raises a hand to brush her fingertips against the spot, still warm from heated lips.

The moment is broken by a guard pushing open the door to the room. Regina spins and is caught by surprise. _Wallace?_

“You need to leave,” the gruff voice commands.

Regina nods and bristles when he reaches for her arm. “Do _not_ touch me.” She sees a moment of fear cross his eyes and she thinks her cover has been blown. “I will walk out myself,” she grounds out, hoping to distract him from his moment of terror. She lifts her head and pulls her shoulders back before walking out in front of the guard.

She makes it back to the boat and heads straight for her quarters. She acknowledges Angelica so she knows she’s back and then closes the door, locking her in her own quarters. _What the hell is going on?_ Wallace is a part of the royal guard now. Apparently his oath to her meant nothing. He went right to Snow and her band of hooligans as soon as she left. _That bastard. I trusted him._ She begins to pace. _How dare he? Who does he think he is?_ Her chance to fume is cut short as Angelica steps into her quarters and closes the door behind her.

“Alright, explain.”

“Excuse me?” Regina asks, whipping her head around to face Angelica.

“You’ve been acting strange since you got back. Did something happen? Did you do something to get us all in trouble?”

“Of course not,” Regina scoffs.

“Then what has you fuming in your quarters and not helping the crew set sail?” Angelica asks with a raised eyebrow.

This causes Regina to pause, she hadn’t even thought of the crew. “I apologize. I was distracted. I’ll be out in a moment.”

“Oh no. You’re not getting out of explaining. What has you so upset? Was it the fairy”

Regina takes a deep breath. “Partly. Blue is the worst of them all. She uses magic freely and without consequence, always pretending to be on the right side of justice. Yet, she’s the worst magic abuser of them all.”

“Worse than the Dark One?” Angelica asks.

“Much worse.” Regina offers no more explanation.

“How?”

Regina sighs, “Rumple doesn’t deny his dark ways. The Blue Moth sits upon a throne of lies, pretending to be perfect and hiding behind her “goodness”. She gets away with evil by saying it is for “good”.” She rolls her eyes to emphasize how much she loathes that damned fairy.

“What else?”

“I’m sorry?” Regina asks. She looks back to Angelica, wondering what she’s asking.

“You said the fairy was only partly responsible for your mood.”

“Oh. I saw a member of my royal guard...and he was a part of _her_ guard.”

Understanding washes over Angelica’s face. There are no words to share. Nothing will change how Regina’s feeling. “Well, perhaps a good fight is what you need to help with your anger. Let’s head to Wonderland. Your magic is strongest there and there’s lots of things to release your anger on.” Regina’s eyes grow wide and her breath quickens. _Wonderland?_ “Oh shit, Mills. You don’t remember, do you? We ran your mother out of Wonderland months ago. Sent her off to Oz this time. We were in Oz before we traveled to Wonderland. Met the Wicked Witch and decided it would be perfect revenge to send your mother there too. Now Wonderland is run by the White King and Queen and the Caterpillar is their Prime Minister. _Trust me._ I know how crazy that sounds, but he was elected by the inhabitants there. And since we rid them of your crazy mother, they’re eternally grateful; enough so that they don’t mind when we dock in their port and fight in their forest.” She gets a mischievous grin and adds, “We may have practiced on the Mome Raths last time.”


	6. The Truth

“Gods, I _hate_ Dodos,” Regina snaps in annoyance as she tries to pull the feathers from her jacket.

“I’d prefer Dodos over Bandersnatches any day,” Angelica says as she cleans her blade.

Regina pauses her plucking and watches Angelica, “How did you obtain the vorpal blade?” she asks.

Angelica smirks, “I released her many years ago and always keep the blade for whenever I travel back.”

Regina grins back, “That definitely helped save our asses a few times.”

“Thank the gods for that! We need to get back to the Enchanted Forest and exchange some treasures before our next adventure.”

This gives Regina pause, they’re going back to the Enchanted Forest _again_?

“Don’t worry about it too much Mills,” Angelica says, “we’ll be in and out in a day and a night.”

Regina nods, “Aye aye, Captain.”

Angelica rolls her eyes, “Smartass,” she says, exasperated.

They share a chuckle and return to removing the rest of Wonderland from themselves and the ship.

Xx

The ship is tethered to port; the crew leaves while Angelica grabs some treasure to barter before heading to the tavern.

Once inside, Regina immediately looks for her favorite barmaid but comes up empty. _Perhaps she’s just grabbing something from outside in the barn._ Regina remembers she hopped on a horse the last time they saw each other.

Regina stays with Angelica again, always watching over and making sure nobody does anything stupid. She threatens four men who approach her throughout the afternoon and evening, “I’ll getcha with a Cat O’Nine Tails before I follow you into that back bedroom,” she tells each of them as she rests her hand on her belt which holds her dagger and whip.

She finds herself growing more and more sullen the longer she goes without seeing Tiana. _Where could she be? Does she still work here? What if she’s in the back with someone?_ That last thought makes her irate. She feels her anger rise and combine with her magic, swarming inside her.

“Cool it, Mills,” Angelica says behind her mug. They’re sitting at the back table in the tavern, watching all the occupants drink and sing. Regina stiffens next to Angelica, she must’ve lost some of her queenly composure since she became a pirate. “I’m sure she’s fine,” Angelica starts and quietly chuckles at how quickly Regina turns red. “You’re not subtle at all, Mills. You keep looking toward the bar and the back hallway and you look like a wounded animal. I’m sure she’s fine and was able to safely escape that fairy.”

Regina’s eyes bulge, she hadn’t even thought about Tiana being on the run from Blue. _What if she was caught?_ Her blood boils, _I’ll kill that damned moth myself_.

“Let’s not be hasty,” Angelica says, “No need to be out for blood. Why don’t we go crash the royal ball and find that fairy you claim to be a moth.” She smiles when Regina realizes she was speaking out loud.

Regina nods and they stand together to head out the door. Once outside, Regina poofs them as close to the castle as she dares; hoping she doesn’t draw any attention by using her magic.

They peek out from around the trees to see the party in full-swing. Carriages arriving at the front doors and people all around the palace grounds.  “What’s the plan?” Angelica asks, peering between the trees next to Regina. When Regina gives her a confused look she says, “You know more about royal balls than I do.”

Regina cringes, “Unfortunately.” She shakes herself out of thoughts about previous balls; sitting at a table while the King circled the room dancing with his daughter; forced to sit aside and watch everyone else enjoying themselves. “If we change our outfits and sneak in through the gardens, no one will notice.”

Angelica nods and feels a chill as Regina twirls her wrist and magically changes their outfits. Angelica looks down to see herself in a deep green dress, cinched at her chest and gently flares out at her hips. She’s never worn something so formal; she never had to as the child of a simple mother and a pirate father. There’s fabric tying the top of her dress to her neck and back that looks like a scarf but falls off the edges of her shoulders, giving the impression that she could fly away at any moment. She feels like an empress from another time. She looks up to smile at Regina when she gets distracted by her outfit.

She’s wearing a tight black ensemble. A black corset, cinched in the back, with a gorgeous set of white wings accenting her front. It’s tight, hugging her curves and slightly flares out at her knees. She hears gentle rustling as the dress glides along the ground with Regina’s fidgeting. “Let’s go,” Regina says as she starts making her way through the trees by the moonlight. Angelica can tell she’s anxious to find some answers but she is nervous about being back in the Enchanted Forest. If she didn’t care so much for this barmaid, they would’ve never made a returning trip, Angelica thinks to herself as she follows Regina, trying not to trip over anything on the forest floor.

“How can you walk so gracefully through all this rummage?” Angelica huffs out after tripping for the third time. She’s not even in heels and her dress is nowhere near as tight as Regina’s. Yet, Regina hasn’t tripped once.

“Queens never lose their balance. They never show weakness, especially something as ridiculous as clumsiness.” Angelica can hear the hollowness in her voice and knows Regina is repeating words ingrained in her. They need to find what Regina needs and then get out of this blasted forest. It’s not healthy for any of them, especially her First Mate.

They make their way out of the forest and enter directly into a weak part of the shrubs making up the exterior of the palace gardens.

“More than 20 years and they still haven’t fixed up the gardens,” Regina tuts in disapproval.

Angelica decides not to respond as she quietly follows Regina through the maze of shrubs, making their way closer to the palace doors. Before they make it to the steps that lead up to the ballroom, they hear a voice ask, “Myrina?”

Regina whips her head around and hisses, “Tiana?” She quickly moves to her left and tries to find the barmaid.

She comes across an opening with a fountain and a beautiful bunch of moon flowers growing. Sitting on a bench with an archway of moon flower vines above her, Regina finds the young blonde. Regina does a quick check to make sure she’s alright. She looks as if she’s been crying.

“Tiana?” she asks again, startling the barmaid out of her thoughts.

The barmaid quickly wipes under her eyes and turns to see Regina, “Myrina?” she asks in shock. “What are you doing here?”

“Are you alright?” Regina asks, immediately walking over to her, sitting next to her, and grasping her chin. “What happened? Did they hurt you? How did you escape? Are you being held in this maze of a garden?”

“Whoa,” Tiana says, grabbing Regina’s hand in both of her own and gently bringing it away from her chin, “I’m okay,” she says softly, keeping Regina’s hand next to her chin, barely grazing her skin. She leans in and kisses Regina’s lips softly. It’s magic in its simplest form. They sigh into each other. Regina lets her heartbeat slow as she realizes Tiana is alive and Tiana’s heart soars as her pirate came to her rescue, even if she doesn’t know what’s going on. She leans in again, holding her lips to Regina, reveling in the supple lips against her own.

“I was so worried,” Regina says quietly when she pulls away, staring deeply into Tiana’s sea green eyes, shimmering like emeralds in the moonlight. She rests her forehead against Tiana’s letting her breath wash over her lips as her mind slows, no longer worried about Tiana’s safety.

Tiana repeats, “I’m okay,” softly. She stands and sees surprise wash over Regina’s face. She looks down to see her ball gown. She tries to explain as Regina stands and takes a step back, away from Tiana.

“I was coming to check on you. After you disappeared from the tavern, no one knew where you went. I thought they had caught you and killed you!” she exclaims. “But I see you’re perfectly fine,” she deadpans. “Did the _perfect_ queen wrap you in her arms and declare you “good”? Is she protecting you even though you have magic? Did she tell you she forgives you for whatever evil you may have committed? How unconditional is her love?” Regina scoffs and rolls her eyes.

“What?!” Tiana exclaims, “Of course not. Myrina, wait!” she calls as Regina takes another step away.

She doesn’t get a chance to say anything else because Angelica comes barrelling around the corner and into their secluded garden. “Mills, we gotta go,” she says frantically, grabbing for Regina’s wrist and trying to drag her towards the opening where they snuck into the gardens.

They’re not quick enough. A guard is standing in their way. Regina tries to see through his armor, but it’s too dark, and she’s not going to use her magic, lest there be a fairy nearby to sense it.

“Emma? Emma! EMMA!” voices call from the ballroom. Regina freezes. She knows that voice. A chill runs up her spine. That’s the voice of the girl who ruined her life all those years ago. Regina doesn’t know who she’s looking for but she hopes she finds her quickly and stops the squawking. _She never had any tact_ Regina thinks as she slowly turns around; unable to run and blocked in by the guard on one side and the barmaid on the other. She sees the blonde staring at her with broken eyes,

“Please let me explain,” she says quietly as she takes a few slow steps toward Regina and Angelica. Regina sees Angelica step back, away from Regina while also staying out of the guard’s reach. He doesn’t look like he’s going to do anything other than block them into the gardens, but Angelica’s learned to always be prepared. She carefully places her hand on her dagger, should she need it. She watches as the barmaid reaches out and takes Regina’s hand, pulling her close. Calls of “Emma” falling on deaf ears as the blonde starts quietly whispering to Regina as they stand too close to hear what they’re saying.

“Emma!” The voice is closer. The hairs on the back of Regina’s neck stand on end. That voice gives her nightmares, haunting her in the worst ways. Tiana caresses the back of her hand with her thumb and reaches with her other hand to place it on the back of Regina’s neck, pulling her closer so their foreheads touch; never once stopping her whispered apologies. “Oh thank Gods, Emma. We found you! Blue said-” The voice pauses, “Oh, sorry to interrupt.”

The blonde sighs and Regina feels it brush across her face, “I’m sorry,” she whispers.

Regina doesn’t understand why she’s apologizing for Snow running to them screaming but she sits back and tries not to filet her former step-daughter with her magic. She looks to see Snow’s cheeks redder than usual against her deep emerald dress and her shepherd husband looking at his shoes. “Emma, Blue says she feels the Evil Queen’s magic here. You need to get back inside where it’s safe.”

Everything clicks at once for Regina. Snow was not looking for some random girl. She was looking for her _daughter_. The mysterious princess that no one has seen. Her barmaid is not really a barmaid at all. “You’re...you’re the lost princess?” Regina asks, taking a step away.

“Never lost. Just hidden,” the blonde says, “against my will,” she adds as she glares at her parents.

“It was for your safety!” Snow justifies.

“Enough.” Charming calls finally looking up from his shoes, “Inside now, Emma.” He takes a step, expecting his daughter to follow immediately.

Emma looks to see Regina horrified, “Myrina?” she asks, taking a step toward Regina only for her to step away. Emma’s heart breaks to see the brunette look so upset.

“Your Majesties,” Blue calls, fluttering down from the main ballroom, “the Evil Queen’s magic is strong here.” She looks at everyone standing in the courtyard and narrows her eyes at Regina before throwing an orb of magic at her.

Regina blocks it easily and throws one of her own, knocking Blue to the ground. She stands up, all 6-inches of her fairy figure, before she wiggles her wings and floats again. “You have no right to be here, Regina. Leave. Before the rest of the fairies get here and you’re captured again. I doubt the queen will be so forgiving this time.”

“What are you talking about, Blue?” Emma asks, stepping next to Regina, “This is Myrina. She’s been docking a ship at the port these past few weeks.”

Snow looks carefully at Regina, even taking a few steps to stand directly in front of Regina.

Regina keeps her head high, glaring right through her former stepdaughter.

Snow gasps, “EMMA! Get away from her. She’s EVIL!” She reaches for Emma’s wrist.

Charming grabs his sword as Snow pulls Emma to her and away from Regina.

Regina sighs, _why can nothing ever be easy? Of course I would meet the hidden princess. The one destined to bring about my downfall._

“MOM!” Emma calls trying to break free from the iron grip around her wrist, “Let me go! You guys are acting weird. Myrina is a friend! _My_ friend. Leave her alone.”

“Show her who you _really_ are, _Your Majesty_ ,” Blue grounds out smugly.

Regina rolls her eyes and flicks her wrist. _If they want the Evil Queen, that’s what they’ll get._ She’s enveloped in purple smoke. It clears and she’s in her own skin again. She’s still in her tight black dress, but her skin is lighter, her hair straighter, and her attitude sharp enough to cut through the entire Charming family in front of her.

Emma gasps, “Myrina?”

“My real name is Regina,” Regina says, looking down to see her nails back to their royal glory, sharp enough to gouge out the eyes of her enemies.

“You’re...you’re the Evil Queen?” Emma stutters out.

“Only in title,” Regina answers honestly, opting for a less dramatic answer for the young barmaid who stole her fancy. “A title your _mother_ gave to me when she decided to throw a tantrum,” she adds in a snarl as she remembers who her barmaid really is. She curls her lip at the end as she shifts her disgust toward Snow.

“You killed my father!” Snow justifies.

“You killed my True Love!” Regina throws back. She completely ignores the gasp from Charming and Tiana- **_Emma_** _, the hidden princess._

“I did not! That was an accident and you know that, Regina,” Snow whines.

“Even 20 years could not change you, Snow,” Regina tuts.

“How did you get here, Witch?” Charming growls, shifting his sword again, trying to keep it in front of his wife and daughter while his daughter is trying to get around him.

Regina holds up a hand, palm toward the royal family. She feels a small sense of satisfaction as they all flinch. “I did not come here to fight you. Hell, I would have preferred to avoid you forever and keep my disguise. I came to make sure your little _wench_ was safe,” she looks pointedly at Tiana - _Emma_ \- she reminds herself.

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Snow asks, tilting her head in question.

“The last time I saw her she was on the run to avoid your pesky little moth,” Regina answers, point toward Blue, who is still trying to fix her wings to fly.

Emma tries to step toward Regina but is held back by her parents.

Regina rolls her eyes, “I do not wish her harm. I’d like to watch you two burn in the Worst Place for all of eternity, but your precious princess has done nothing wrong.” She pauses and then smiles, “Snow,” she calls, turning her attention to her former stepdaughter, “I hope you enjoy your dessert, dear, I hear it’s to _die_ for.”

“GUARDS!” Charming yells, “Don’t even think about it, Demon,” he says as he looks pointedly at her hidden dagger.

This earns him another eye roll. “Oh please,” she scoffs, “You truly are as dense as a farmer.” She turns to see Angelica standing directly behind her. She grabs her arm and poofs them back to the ship.

Angelica immediately starts screaming orders at the men who are drunkenly staggering onto the ship. After a few sharp words, they sober up enough to start moving about the boat, getting ready to set sail.

Regina stands at the helm, watching tiny little blips of magic pop up over the hillside. _Fairies_ she thinks in disgust. She watches them move closer and she quickly raises a protection spell over the ship, blocking any attempt at magic against them. The crew is momentarily distracted as multi-colored magic bounces off of the invisible boundary surrounding them. A shout from Angelica has them back on their job, trying to get the boat out of the Enchanted Forest as quickly as possible.

Angelica watches Regina break a sweat as she blocks all of the magic being thrown at her shield. “I guess we’re headed back to Wonderland, aye?” she calls and watches as Regina turns her head enough to glare at her. She chuckles, “I’d say you’ve got a lot of stress to work out, Mills. HELMSMAN, set the course for Wonderland.” She gleefully laughs as she watches the fairies repeatedly try to break through Regina’s barrier.

She knows Regina will want to stay in Wonderland for a while-she always needs an outlet after she experiences something terrible. Angelica thinks back to when Regina was asked by the crew if she had ever found her True Love. She completely annihilated an entire clan of Sea Nymphs that crossed paths with the ship. If Angelica’s being serious, it was really amazing to see. Regina destroyed the clan member-by-member, some slower than others; but all with a grace only Regina could possess. A combination of her sword, throwing daggers, and using magic (when they ran out of their magic-neutralizing sand, of course) made the whole thing hypnotizing. She also remembers their last trip to the Land of Untold Stories. A trip that ended with a magical bomb blowing a blimp into a million little pieces above one of the bridges and into the water below. Regina has quite the temper but as long as it’s not aimed at you, it’s fascinating to watch.


	7. The Capture

The Shadow sails a course and before they know it, they’re back in Wonderland. They spend their first day chasing down Mome Raths, using Regina’s magic as a light to draw them in before attacking. They may be deadly and terrify the inhabitants of Wonderland; but with Regina’s magic and a pirate crew that wants to practice their swordsmanship, those mangy wolves didn’t stand a change.

They spend a few weeks in Wonderland, fighting Mome Raths and Bandersnatches, and they even found a Sarlacc-something they hadn’t done in their previous trips- _it’s tusks will sell well on the Black_ _Market_ , they all thought. They could not stay any longer because a few young pirates decided to steal Hookah from the Caterpillar and he sent a few of his bounty hunters after the Black Pearl.

Angelica sets course for the Land of Untold Stories, where the Black Market is at its strongest. She and Regina head into her quarters to clean up some of the Mome Rath hides and break apart different body parts of the Sarlacc to maximize their profit.

The ship lurches and everything flies off of Angelica’s bookshelf against the far wall. The table flips over and their treasure falls across the floor. Regina lifts herself from the floor and staggers to her feet. She watches Angelica do the same and together they head to the main deck.

“What the bloody hell is going on out here, Helmsman?!” Angelica shouts as she moves toward the helm.

“I’m not sure, Cap’n” he says, “We’re not in the Land of Untold Stories, though.”

“Well, where are we then?” Angelica seethes.

“The Enchanted Forest,” Regina says quietly, moving to the side of the boat.

Angelica pauses, “Figure out what went wrong and fix it,” she says to the crew before moving back toward Regina. She stands next to her for a moment and says, “Let’s go see the damage that landing did to our treasure.”

They head back into Angelica’s quarters and begin setting things in their spots. The table is righted and they place everything back onto the bookshelf. They’ve been fixing things for quite some time and are almost done cleaning the Sarlacc tusks when Gibbs shouts, “Captain! There’s a beautiful vessel out here that’s loaded down with treasure!”

Angelica and Regina share a smirk, “Well let’s go get it then!” Angelica yells through the door as she and Regina grab their daggers and swords, placing them on their belts as they walk to the main deck.

The men are moving quickly across the boat, preparing to attack the unsuspecting carrier ship. Regina stands at the helm next to Angelica, watching the pirates maneuver closer to the ship. She revels in the fear she sees in the eyes of the carrier ship’s crew. She can’t help the evil smile that spreads her across her face when the other ship’s crew frantically try to stop the pirates from taking their ship. She loves when they try to fight.

She gives a shout and watches the men throw their ties onto the carrier ship. Together on Regina’s count, they pull the two ships together and jump to the other side. They immediately start to disarm the other crew. Regina hops over to the other ship and uses her sword to slice a member who lunges at her from shoulder to shoulder. He drops immediately and she gracefully steps over his body as she moves closer to the helm.

“Round up the rest of the people aboard,” she shouts and watches with a grin as the crew are all corralled on the main deck.

“Oooh-whoooo-whooo, Mills we’ve got a real treasure aboard,” Pintel says, chuckling as he brings out the royal family.

“Well, well, well,” Regina purrs as she steps closer to look at them. “Quite the luck we have, losing our way and finding you. How...wonderful,” she says, releasing her most wicked smile. She steps toward Snow and brushes the back of her fingers against Snow’s cheeks, “You’re looking….old, Snow.”

“Get away from her!” Charming yells.

Regina merely waves her hand toward him, not even giving him a passing glance.

“You won’t get away with this Witch!” Charming shouts, trying to lunge at her. Pintel and Ragetti are quicker, grabbing his arms and holding him back.

Regina lets out a chuckle, “Oh, Shepherd. I already have.” She turns to the crew,

“We...we thought you were dead,” Snow says in astonishment. “Until the party, no one had seen you in years.”

“I was travelling,” Regina says with a shrug.

“You haven’t aged,” Snow ponders aloud.

“Witchcraft,” Charming mutters, and cries out when Pintel and Ragetti twist his arms further behind his back.

“Don’t do this,” Snow pleads.

“Tie them up with the others,” Regina says, done with the cat and mouse game.

“Wait!” The blonde princess calls. “Don’t do this, Myrina.”

“My name is _Regina_. And I don’t take orders from you,” she sneers.

“It’s not an order,” the blonde whispers, “Please, let them go.”

Regina scoffs, “You can’t be serious.” She steps into Tiana’s - _Emma’s_ \- space, “They made my life miserable. They ruined my life. If it wasn’t for your mother and her big mouth, none of this would have ever happened.”

Emma looks confused, “What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t surprise me that she didn’t tell you anything. She always needed to be the perfect princess.” Regina doesn’t let the irritation in her voice go unnoticed.

“She...she told me that you killed my grandfather.”

Regina rolls her eyes, “That was hardly the worst of my sins. But I never would have been married to that repugnant man if it wasn’t for her.”

“That man was my _father_ ,” Snow cries from her spot on the deck. Held down by two pirates.

“That was no man. No man locks someone - their new _wife_ \- in a room every day and night, only to be let out at his discretion. No _man_ controls every moment of someone’s life just because they can. He was **no** man.”

“I...I don’t understand,” Emma says.

“Of course you don’t,” Regina shouts, letting a flare of magic off into the air. “You were locked away too. You know what it’s like to be entirely controlled by someone. Your mother is _just_ like her despicable father. She inherited his worst traits.” She finishes quietly, losing much of the fire behind her eyes.

“You lie!” A young boy shouts as he pushes forward to be next to Snow.

“Henry, be quiet,” Snow tries to shush the young boy.

The name gives Regina pause. Her body freezes, _Henry?_ When her heart starts beating again she chokes out, “Henry?”

Snow nods and looks at the deck, “I thought he deserved to be remembered.”

Regina flies into a rage, “ _You_ thought? **_You_ ** thought? You?! You had the audacity to take my father’s name for your spawn? Haven’t you taken enough?”

“Henry Daniel get over here and away from that witch this instant!” Charming shouts from his position between the two pirates.

 _Apparently not_ Regina thinks as her heart shatters into a million pieces.

“Regina,” Snow starts as she tries to steps forward.

Regina raises her hand in defeat. “Don’t. You’ve taken everything I had. It’s yours. You’ve had everything your entire life and yet you continue to take everything from me.”

“That’s not true,” Snow defends.

A scoff escapes Regina, “You’ve had everything handed to you, but it’s never been enough. The world is at your fingers yet you always taken what I’ve had.” Regina turns away, trying to prevent anyone from seeing the tears fall down her cheeks. “Tie them to the boat and sink it,” she says, defeated.

“Don’t do this, Regina,” Snow pleads. “Don’t kill my family because you’re upset with me.”

Regina whips around, no longer caring who sees her tears, “Upset? You think I’m _upset_ with you? Upset is what you are with a disobedient child. You had my Soulmate killed because you wanted me as your mother. You turned me into the Evil Queen because I wasn’t the perfect mother you envisioned. You kicked me out of my own kingdom because you thought you could do better. Tell me Snow, are you happy? Happy with how many lives you’ve ruined in your crusade to be perfect?” Regina shakes her head, “You don’t even believe you’ve done anything wrong.”

“Your mother killed Daniel. Not me,” Snow defends.

“Do _not_ bring her into this. I dealt with her long ago. If you hadn’t opened your big mouth about wanting me as your mother and my relationship with Daniel, he would have lived and we would have ran away together. Do you know how much heartache you caused? And all for what? So you could have a mother that was barely older than you? Someone to braid your hair and talk to you about princes and dowries? How did that turn out Snow? Are you happy?”

“I was.” Regina scoffs but Snow continues, “I thought you were the greatest thing that ever happened to us after my mother died. I went to you for everything because I _trusted_ you Regina. I wanted us to be close but I _never_ wanted Daniel dead. I named my son after him for Gods’ sake.”

“You had no right,” Regina says. She looks to the young boy in front of her, whose eyes have gone from fury to confusion. She turns to the crew, aware of how they’re staring at her in shock. She sighs, “They go down with the ship. All of them.”

“Regina!” Snow pleads, “Emma and Henry are _innocent_. Let them go. Please.”

“ _I_ was innocent, Snow,” she shouts, rounding back into Snow’s space. “But that didn’t stop you from controlling my life.” An idea hits her, “But sinking you with your family doesn’t give you heartache like I’ve experienced.” She smirks and says, “Bring her aboard the Black Pearl. She will watch her family parish, helpless to save them.” She turns away and can’t help the smile that crosses her face as Snow screams in anguish.

“Wait,” a quiet voice calls to her. “Take us instead,” a voice says, causing Regina to turn around and stare at the princess. “It would hurt her even more to know that her children were traveling with you. She’d never see us again. Let her live and anguish everyday about if we’re alive or not.”

Regina scoffs but then pauses, _it’s not a bad plan_ , she has to give the princess credit for the plan.

“No! You don’t know what you’re saying Emma. You’re blind to her evil ways!” Charming shouts, trying to break free from the pirates holding him.

Regina flicks her wrist and he’s bound with large ropes that squeeze tighter the more he moves. “Stupid shepherd, stop moving and they’ll stop tightening. That’s a good way to kill yourself before I’m ready for you to die,” Regina tsks. She turns to the blonde princess, “You’d freely give yourself and your brother over to me, just to save your mother?” she asks, unsure where the sudden love came from.

It’s Emma’s turn to scoff. “I couldn’t care less about the little twerp, but it would break their hearts to know their precious son was gone. And I just want to get out of that damned castle. That’s all I’ve ever wanted,” she adds quietly.

“Emma, don’t do this,” Snow pleads, tears falling from her eyes.

“Please,” Emma pleads to Regina, “Take me away from here.”

Regina looks to the sunset, deciding what to do. _Do I take the prince and princess and leave their parents to hunt us down? Kill them all? Sink the ship and let them fend for themselves?_

The little prince steps forward, “I take my parents’ place. Take my sister and I and leave our parents alone.”

“You’re either very brave or very stupid,” Regina muses. She turns to see Snow crumbled on the floor.

“Don’t do this Regina. Please, I beg of you.”

She ignores Snow and looks back to the young prince, “How old are you?”

“I’m almost 6, Miss,” he answers with respect.

Regina raises an eyebrow in disbelief, “You’re too young to join the guard, but you are going to leave your parents forever?”

The young prince shrugs, “I’m already part of the royal guard.”

“What?” she asks in a shrill voice. She turns toward Snow, “Your own son? You truly only care about yourself.”

“That’s not true!” Henry says, stepping forward, forcing Regina’s attention away from his mother and back to him.

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, Young Prince,” she warns.

He puffs his chest out, “I can handle it,” his eyes burning with a challenge.

This causes Regina to smirk, she thinks she sees Daniel’s eyes in the young boy. “We’ll see now won’t we,” she chooses to say. She doesn’t want anyone to think too much about why she agreed so quickly to the young boy’s request. She turns to Emma and they share a look, speaking volumes in their glances. “Come along. We can’t have you returning to that tower, locked away while your parents hunt for me.” She chuckles and leads the Charming spawn back over to the Black Pearl.

“REGINA!!” Snow bellows.

Charming starts shouting and pulling against his restraints, causing them to tighten once again. Regina lets out an evil laugh as she walks back toward the Black Pearl. She makes sure the Charming children are safely on the other deck with Angelica before she yells, “Bind only their wrists.” She turns to Snow, “I’m not entirely evil,” she coos.

“No,” Snow grounds out and then pleads, “Please Regina, don’t do this. You’re not evil. Leave my family alone. We’ll stop hunting you. We did long ago. You can leave this realm and never come back.”

Regina shrugs, “I think I prefer my current plan.” She steps closer to Snow, kneels down next to her and whispers, “Don’t ever come for them or I _will_ kill them in front of you. Slowly, while you’re bound similar to your simple-shepherd husband. You will fight and fight the restraints until you’re suffocating next to your bleeding children. There will be much suffering. Leave us alone and no harm will come to them.” She stands, brushes invisible wrinkles from her clothes as she moves back to the Black Pearl.

“Get back here Witch and fight me for my children. I’ll rip your throat out. I’ll pull out your still beating heart. Give me back my children!”

She flicks her wrist over her shoulder, not even bothering to turn around as she moves part of his restraints around his neck. When she’s back across the other deck she laughs, “You locked your daughter away and kept her hidden in a place she hated so much, she’d rather leave with _me_ than stay with you. And your son, bless his little soul,” she mocks, placing her hand over her heart, “would do anything to keep you alive. Somehow you did something right and he has honor, I suppose I’d have to thank his governess for that since I know you two don’t have a brain between you. Say goodbye to your children.” She turns to Emma and Henry, “Take them below,” she tells Gibbs, who quickly grabs their arms as they try to fight.

Emma gives up fighting quickly when she realizes they weren’t being thrown off the ship, she doesn’t even say goodbye. She merely accepts her fate and follows Gibbs calming to the steps while her brother screams and fights.

“Calm yourself, boy,” Gibbs hushes him. “We’re not goina kill ye. The First Mate’s taken a liken to ya-Gods only know why-but no harm will come to ye on my watch,” he vows.

“Don’t kill them!” Henry shouts behind him, locking eyes with Regina.

Damn those eyes.

Regina sighs and says, “They won’t be killed by us. Now go down below with Mr. Gibbs and behave.” She waits for the hatch to shut behind them before she turns back to the pirate crew, awaiting orders. She looks at Angelica, and with her permission, Regina looks and the crew and says, “Bind only their hands. Keep their legs free. Then we leave them on the ship and sink it. If they swim, they survive. If not, they had a fighting chance.”

“How _forgiving_ of you,” Angelica says with a chuckle.

Regina shrugs, and watches the crew follows her orders instead of looking at Angelica’s knowing eyes.

Xx

They fire the last canon. The royal cargo ship is sinking quickly. Many of the crew members jumped off the boat as soon as possible, trying to swim to shore. Others helps Snow and Charming-who still had rope wrapped around his upper body.

Regina turns her attention to their new treasure. _Now what to do with a forgotten princess and honorable prince._ She gracefully descends the steps to find the young prince and princess in a cell with Gibbs sitting outside the cell talking quietly.

“Hey!” He shouts. “Let me out of here! I came willingly. Let. Me. Go.”

Gibbs is quick to explain when Regina’s eye do that twitch-thing that makes his skin crawl. “He was trying to get away, Mills. Kept shouting about his parents’ honor and how you would pay.”

Regina laughs an airy laugh, as if bells were ringing inside her throat, “Pay? For generously allowing you to live? I suppose I will pay.” She grows somber, “I find nothing but pain from your genes, but as long as your mother is more miserable I’m sure I’ll survive.”

“You won’t get away with this,” Henry shouts from inside his cell.

“Oh my dear,” Regina says moving in close, wrapping her hands around two cell bars, smiling when Henry backs away in fear, “I already have.” With that she turns away from the cell and looks to Gibbs, “Watch them. I want them within your sight at all times. Understood?”

Gibbs nods nervously, “Yes, Miss.”

“Good.” She turns to Emma and sighs before heading up the steps and back to the main deck. Regina stands next to Angelica, “What’s the plan?” she asks.

Angelica points to a ship in the distance, “A fight worthy of our experienced crew.”

Xx

It’s a lousy fight. The travel vessel doesn’t stand a chance against the pirate crew. They’re quickly disarmed and rounded up. Regina laughs when she realizes the boat belongs to Aladdin and Jasmine, the street rat and crown princess of Agrabah.

“Princess Emma?” Jasmine asks as she’s bound with rope.

Regina whips her head around to see the princess standing on the main deck. She gives a small shrug with a sheepish smile.

“I see you inherited some of your mother’s bandit skills,” Regina muses, not sure if she’s upset or impressed.

Emma chuckles, “I used to break out of the castle all the time, your cage was a piece of cake.”

“I suppose I’ll have to try harder next time. Are you going to cause any problems right now?” She asks with a raised eyebrow.

Emma shakes her head and stands silent next to Angelica. She watches Regina look through the loot the crew brings above deck.

They make off well. The young Sultana had a beautiful tiger that will make a decent seller when they make it to the Land of Untold Stories. But it’s the Agrabahn vipers that really excite Regina. “These will have us set for many decades,” Regina preens as she carefully hands off the cages of vipers to some other pirates to take down by the rest of their loot.

They strand the crew-but don’t kill the survivors. Only because the blonde princess begged Regina not to kill anymore crew members than they already had.

Oh Gods, she was already going soft.

Xx

They’re on their third ship of the day. It belongs to some fiery redheaded princess named Merida. She tries to use her bow, she’s quite good, but Regina easily catches an arrow with one hand, leaning slightly to the side so it avoids her chest. “Impressive, but alas it will not save your from these pirates.”

“Jewels, gold, silver, a few weapons, lots of decorative items, rings, a crown-much more modest than mine-vases, religious offerings...Oh, this is new, a dragon ring. I think I’ll keep this for myself,” Regina says, placing the ring on her finger; it feels warm on her skin. _There’s old magic within this_.

“I think I could do with a new crown,” Angelica says. “Especially with new royalty on board, I suppose I’ll have to look my best.” She laughs and gives a mock bow.

“You won’t get awey wit dis,” Merida threatens.

“You know,” Regina muses aloud, lifting more jewelry from one of the chests, “I’ve heard that a lot today. And I haven’t believed it once. I believe we _will_ get away with this. What do you think, Captain?” she asks, turning toward Angelica.

“Well, I do believe you’re correct, Mills.” She giggles and together, she and Regina, begin a mock dance around the treasure as their crew and their hostages watch on.

“Princess Emma,” Merida calls quietly. When she doesn’t respond she hisses, “SWAN!” This gets Emma’s - and Regina’s - attention, “Run quick while they’re distracted.”

“Yes, Princess _Swan_ ,” Regina calls sweetly, “Do run while we’re all distracted with this treasure.”

Emma straightens her spine, “I won’t be running.”

“Good girl,” Regina coos as she tosses a small crown at her. When Emma gives her a weird look she says, “Well, you’re still a princess until your parents’ disown and disinherit you. Might as well enjoy it.”

They shove off the other ship when all of the treasure has been moved to their ship-and they didn’t kill everyone they came across. A first for every pirate on board.

Regina stands at the helm with Emma, both dripping with gold treasures as they try to head to the Land of Untold Stories once again. The sea breeze whips their hair about and jingles the jewelry adorning their bodies. “You know, my parents won’t even miss me,” she starts. Regina doesn’t know what to say, so she remains silent, watching the ocean surround them. She lets out a dry chuckle, “They might miss Henry, but they’ll have another child. Another _perfect_ child.” She scoffs, “That little brat was so perfect. He’s the _best_ child,” she starts mocking in a terrible imitation of her mother’s voice. “He can _never_ do anything wrong. He’s going to be the _perfect_ King for our kingdom. Everything he does is perfect, perfect, perfect.”

“He adores you,” Regina says quietly. Wishing she had a sibling she was close to. She _technically_ has a sister, but she spent her adult life trying to kill Regina. Doesn’t quite leave room to develop a “sibling” bond.

Emma rolls her eyes. “He can get away with anything. He can leave the castle, travel the entire realm with my parents and I’m stuck locked away in the castle. Funny how they tried so hard to protect me from you and yet, you weren’t even in the same realm. And now I willingly left with you instead of staying with them” She releases a slightly crazed laugh.

“She’s a bit deranged,” Angelica says, stepping out of her quarters after finishing looking through their newly acquired treasure. This causes Regina to laugh.

“Hey! I’m still a Princess! Show some respect,” Emma huffs as she readjusts the crown on her head.

“You’re not _my_ Princess,” Angelica says with a smirk which causes Regina to scoff and roll her eyes. She _hates_ that nickname.


	8. The Epilogue

Regina stands at the helm, watching the sky pass them by as they travel between realms. She’ll never tire of that. The beauty of watching realms fade away into new realms, new places to pillage and wreck havoc. She sighs when arms wrap around her waist, she’ll never tire of that either. She leans against the body behind her, breathing in deeply.

“You’re thinking too hard,” a voice rumbles next to her ear, causing a shiver to travel down her spine.

She steps away and turns to see Emma’s emerald eyes staring at her. She smiles and leans in to kiss lips she’s grown accustomed to over the last year travelling the realms together.

“Ew!! Stop doing that when I’m walking around,” Henry calls as he walks toward them.

Regina chuckles and bends over when he stops by them to kiss his cheek, laughing when he pulls away and begins to rub it.

“Gross, ‘Gina. You gotta stop it, the crew already teases me for being so small.”

“You’re still growing!” Regina defends.

Henry rolls his eyes, “Yeah, but they still tease me when I sleep by you guys.”

“Who?” Regina asks with narrowed eyes.

“Nobody!” Henry calls quickly, aware of how protective Regina can be. “It’s nothing. Just crew stuff, you know? It’s no big deal, just ease up with the kisses.”

“No,” she says with a smirk as she wraps him in her arms and smothers him with kisses.

He breaks away from her hold and wraps his arms around Emma’s middle, “No use, kid. She’s gonna keep doing it. Better get used to it.”

“Ugh,” he groans.

“Pffft, like you don’t secretly love it,” Regina says to them both and chuckles when their cheeks turn the same color red.

Emma clears her throat and pats Henry’s hands, still wrapped around her middle. Thankful that Regina helped her realize it wasn’t her brother’s fault he wasn’t born without magic and their parents chose to dote on while she was stuck tucked away in the castle. Over the last year they had grown to become quite the sibling pair, causing trouble wherever they went. “Well, where are we headed, Captain?” she asks with a smirk.

“I was thinking Mount Olympus,” Regina says turning toward the Helmsmen, who nods at her request.

“Like the home of the Gods?” Henry asks excitedly.

“That’s exactly right,” Regina says with a smile.

“Like we just read about in our book?!” he asks, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

Regina nods and can’t contain her own happiness, “That’s the place. If you’re okay with that of course,” she says with a smile.

“Of course!” Henry squeals as he releases his sister to wrap his arms tightly around Regina.

The past year was a whirlwind for them all. After leaving the Enchanted Forest and Fairy Tale Land altogether, they went to the Land of Untold Stories where Angelica decided she wanted to stay and sent Regina, the ship, and the crew on their way. Regina smiles as she thinks of the last time they saw her, just a few weeks ago. Leading the entire Black Market, controlling all the major players; truly a job she excels at.

The ship, no longer the Black Pearl but instead now affectionately named the Dark Swan, after she convinced her precious little princess that she could be a _little_ dark.

She and Emma were quick to pick up where they left off when they were still Myrina and Tiana. Still aliases they use when travelling in other realms. Henry calls them missions and names them as different “Operations” whenever he leaves the ship with Emma and Regina.

The ship lands safely and Henry quickly releases Regina and jumps down to help the other crewmen steady the boat and guide them into port.

Emma wraps her arm behind Regina’s back, “You know,” she starts with a smirk, “You’ve gone soft.” Regina scoffs and rolls her eyes. “You’re right,” Emma says, her smirk growing. “You’ve always been soft.”

“I’ll show you soft,” Regina threatens without malice. Emma lets out a glorious laugh. Regina watches the sun bounce off her skin and shine against it. “I haven’t always been this way,” she says quietly, not knowing what she did to deserve the happiness she’s found aboard this ship.

First, it was the family she gained in Angelica and the rest of the crew. But that wasn’t enough, she was still killing and pillaging, striking fear into hearts of others. Then she thought she had it all figured out with Tiana, the unknown barmaid, but that blew up in her face. Now, she has had her revenge on Snow. What Snow doesn’t know is that if Henry or Emma asked to return, she would, without a second thought. They’ve gone on to become Regina’s whole world. That’s why they’re going to Olympus, Henry is currently obsessed with the Gods and she’s taught him everything she knows about them. So, here they are, just so he can ask them his questions and Regina can watch his face light up in wonder.

“You were hurting,” Emma defends. They’ve had this conversation before. “We’ve _both_ done things we regret,” she continues, “but that doesn’t mean we don’t get to choose our future. We get to choose our own path, Regina.”

Regina rolls her eyes, “I know,” she deadpans, “Don’t go getting all princess-like on me. We don’t have the time.”

Emma winks, “I’ll save that for another time.”

“You do that,” Regina says with a chuckle. “Now come along, Henry is already anxious to reach port. We need to be there to watch.”

Emma nods and raises her hands to match Regina’s, both facing the main sail. Together, they combine their magic and guide the boat safely into the harbor in the clouds.

When the boat is docked and the crew starts tying is down, Emma grabs Regina's hand and says, “I’ll never tire of sharing our magic.”

“Neither will I,” Regina agrees with a smile.

Emma smiles, “I’ll forever be grateful that you unbound my magic,” she nudges Regina’s shoulder with her own, causing her to smile.

“I’ll forever be grateful you picked up my pieces and put me back together,” Regina answers back honestly. She wraps her arm around Emma’s back, pulling her so they’re face-to-face.

“We pulled each other into focus,” Emma answers and nudges Regina’s nose with her own as she softly caresses Regina’s shoulder with her hand.

“Together,” Regina says with a smile as she kisses Emma sweetly.

“Together,” Emma echos quietly.

“COME ON!” Henry shouts from the other end of the ship, “Can you two hurry up and save the kissing stuff for later? I need to go find Poseidon. He pushed our boat back two whole days on our last trip and I want to know why.”

Emma and Regina share a laugh, “He learned that from you, you know,” Emma says as she leads Regina off the boat.

Regina gasps, “Me? You two are one and the same.”

“You both do it,” Henry scoffs. He grabs their hands, standing between them, and leads them off the boat and onto their next adventure.


End file.
